AMD adds Black Edition to Phenom range
AMD fleshed out its Phenom II and Athlon II ranges with a quintet of fresh processors today, three of which barely trouble the $100 price barrier. The AMD Athlon II X2 255 is a 3.1GHz, 65W part which will cost $74 in industrial quantities, while the AMD Athlon II X3 440 is a 3Gz 90W part, setting you back $84. The AMD Athlon II …
My old x2 550 BE is an absolute corker. Not only will the other 2 cores unlock but the whole kit and kaboodle will happily run prime overnight at 3.4GHz . No extra voltage applied either. Core 0 and Core 1 are stable up to 3.7 but 2 & 3 stop after 3.4
No idea what it failed (10% overclock on "failed" cores cant be a reason - surely?) on to be sold as an X2 but whatever it is, I havent found it yet!
'Black Edition' is NOT 'supposed to make it sound mysterious and even slightly threatening', it means that the cpu clock multiplier is unlocked, allowing for easier overclocking.
AMD have been using the tag for quite some time!
doesn't the black edition mean that it's running a third cache or something? and it sounds like the II is actually a locked quad core that can be unlocked, but even if you don't, the potential is good for overclocking.
Time for an upgrade.
In AMD processor terms "Black Edition" has a clear meaning (and has for several years) .. it means it comes with an unlocked multiplier. There' have been BE Phenom's for ages and its to AMDs credit that they are putting BE versions in all the processor combos (X2, X3 and X4) rather than reserving it as a special ultra high price version that no sane person would ever buy
that there is no multiper lock on the chip, so it's easier for people to make it go faster.
ttfn
....2 second search and you would of realised it means they are easy to overclock.
Thats is all.
Research? Ha copy paste more like.
Black Edition parts* have their internal clock multiplier unlocked so you can tweak the CPUs internal clock rate without affecting anything else.
Nothing new or sinister here, move along.
*There's been one at the top of every lineup for quite a number of years now.
I bought a Phenom II (2.8x3) 720 BE last year and have not been disappointed whatsoever. My system is at a benchmark comparison with i7 rigs that cost twice, if not three times the amount as my system as it stands (720x3 BE, 4gigs of dual channel 1600RAM (6-6-6-20-t1) and two 4870s). In addition, my BE is overclocked to a blistering 3.4ghz, on passive cooling within an Antec 900 case, and never peaks above 41degC.
I spent £120 on that chip, and compared with the generation equivalent quad core Intel chips it is cheaper, has much more leeway for OCing and in my opinion is a much better choice for budding overclockers working on a budget.
They scored better then an I7? Which one? I find it rather hard to believe that it scored better then an i7. Hell those chips make me instantly need a towel.
Nect time look at the numbers from benchmarks.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_1iVRMXd1Sic/SgsXwaCOWKI/AAAAAAAAAGs/jLT6cthVzNc/s1152/Fullscreen%20capture%2013052009%20200454.jpg
This is before I tightened the memory timings, 15,000 in 3dmark 06 (boosted to 19k in W7 and tighter timings) kicks the hell out of basic i7 systems.
http://orb.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=11059857
Go look up the benchmarks for an i7 8xx (around 200-250) and come back.
So.... does the Black Edition mean the clock multiplier is unlocked, then?
I recently upgraded from an early Phenom II to a X4 940 Phenom II, 3GHz Black Edition with 6Mb of L3 cache, and I am quite satisfied. It comes with a heat pipe cooler, too. My system now benchmarks at 9Gflops according to BOINC, and I haven't started overclocking.
Its coming first quarter 2010!!!
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