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#1 2009-01-08 2:59 pm
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Phenom II
A bit of hardware news, like the old days, for a change.
The AMD we used to know and love is back. As I write this sentence, most of AMD is still on vacation. By the time you read this, that will have changed, but it's such a stark contrast to what happened when the original Phenom processor launched. In the months leading up to Phenom, AMD treated it like it would be its hero. "Just wait", we were told. So we did. And Phenom was the biggest disappointment AMD had ever left us with.
..
..I was done with flying around for AMD CPU launches; if Phenom II was going to be good, the chip would have to prove itself without an exotic locale or delicious Texas BBQ to sweeten the deal.
And good it is.
AMD is launching two new 45nm Phenom II CPUs today. [..]
..
Similarly, the Phenom II X4 920 is generally better than or equal to Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9300, and priced less (it's more of a competitor to the slower Q8300, but I didn't have one available for testing). The same stipulations detailed above exist here as well; there are some areas where Intel is going to be faster but for the most part our tests showed the Phenom II to be a better option.
Wait, what? An AMD CPU recommendation?
..
..If you've been waiting for an AMD to be excited about for the past couple of years, today is your day.
Competition is back. Let's get to it.
Anand sayeth it is good. 
AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920: A True Return to Competition
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#2 2009-01-29 6:45 am
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: Phenom II
Prices have been cut, further improving the price/perf ratio. And the design has proven its potential...
AMD Phenom II Overclocked to 6.5GHz With Liquid Helium -220C
youtube.com — Team Finland and Pete Hardman and Sami Makinen from AMD, use a combination of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium to reach CPU tempertures of -232 degrees Celsius in order to attain CPU clock speeds of 6.5GHz and smashing the world record for 3DMarks with 45,474 3DMarks in a test.
6.5GHz, new 3DMark record. AMD is back. Vid on YT. 
http://digg.com/hardware/AMD_Phenom_II_ … lium_-220C
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#3 2009-02-11 1:25 am
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9140
Re: Phenom II
And they work with my board too .
Just checked, Gigabyte recently updated bios for my 570...added support for the IIs. Man I like Gigabyte boards. They always seem to keep things up to date, even on older ones. Never had that with Asus or ASrock. With them the support would dry up in a few months.
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#4 2009-03-01 5:03 am
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: Phenom II
There's a potential bonus, too, tho apparently not for 570 boards [unless]...
The Phenom II X3 is our favorite bang-for-the-buck upgrade right now. With three cores, 6MB of L3 cache, high clocks, lots of headroom for OC'ing, and very aggressive pricing, it's a no-brainer upgrade for the AMD enthusiast on a budget. But what if you could unlock that fourth core AMD has disabled? Your sub-$150 X3 would essentially become an X4!
That's precisely what some users are doing, and as VR-Zone has discovered, the process is as simple as turning on AMD's ACC utility. Once ACC is enabled, the fourth core is turned on, with four cores showing up in Windows task manager and CPU-Z. The site claims only one batch of X3's can be unlocked, so you'll need some luck if you decide to try this one out for yourself.
http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsart … chid=21333
REPORTS WHICH POINT OUT THAT the fourth hidden core on some AMD Phenom II X3 processors can be enabled on certain motherboards have lead to a surge in sales for the chipmaker's latest 45nm-based triple core processors.
Apparently all you need to do to get the fourth core active is use a Biostar TA790GX 128M motherboard and tweak the BIOS.
This gives you a cheap four core computer for the price of an already cheap three core. Apparently the same trick can be done with any other 790GX + SB700 motherboard. All you have to do is to modify 'Advanced Clock Calibration' to Auto and your tri-core should become a quad-core.
Sources in AMD have been telling anyone who will ask that the consumer demand for AMD's triple-core Phenom II CPUs has escalated. However the chipmaker has refused to confirm if such a tweak is possible. µ
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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