AMD overclocks the snot out of Phenom II processors

No, you're not looking at some high-precision, multimeter-laden kegerator; the above is a picture from a recent AMD event in which things apparently got a little out of hand. The company started by talking up its upcoming Dragon platform (Phenom II X4, Radeon 4800 graphics, and 7-series chipset), took a few moments to discuss how its new 45nm chips will use 30-50 percent less power than their predecessors, and then threw all notions of sensibility out the window in an attempt to see just how fast the darned things could go. A Phenom II X4 managed 4GHz with air-cooling, 4.4GHz with a refrigerated setup, and finally a "stable" 5GHz on liquid nitrogen. That's mighty fast, but will the chips be quick enough to tackle Intel's mighty Core i7 when stripped of their fancy-pants cooling appendages? We'll see when they ship early next year.

[Image courtesy of Legit Reviews]

[angelwolf71885 @ Nov 21st 2008 10:58AM]

dam AMD finaly did something right for a change

/AMD fan boy :D

[Tarnation @ Nov 21st 2008 11:28AM]

For everyone's sake lets hope they can put up a fight with Intel. My last system build was an X2 5200 good machine, but the Core 2s came out right after I built her and it made me cry. I am now gearing up for a new build and I am seriously considering i7, but if somehow AMD could pull an upset I would be giddy. Either way the competition does wonders for the market. As long as there is an Intel we need an AMD. AMD forces Intel to innovate and damn, the last couple have years have been exciting.

AMD vs Intel = whoever is making the best chip at the time

Nvidia vs ATI = ATI fanboy go go 4870 X2 you are so hawt in a good way. Good to see ATI on top again.

I won't make the same mistake with mobos again my next mobo will be an ASUS.

P.S.
Engadget please do a story on the Silverstone Raven RV01 or at least get some dirt as to win we can see this bad boy stateside.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/

[Chuckles McGee @ Nov 21st 2008 11:46AM]

Yeah, hopefully running on liquid nitrogen, an overclocked AMD can beat a $320 Intel processor.

[Ryan @ Nov 21st 2008 4:48PM]

Here is an article that talks about the setup AMD used during the demonstration in good detail and the benefits the 45nm process provides for the chip designer: http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=6455

[AC @ Nov 21st 2008 11:00AM]

I really hope AMD makes comes out with a good product. We need a strong competitor to Intel.

[tom @ Nov 21st 2008 11:05AM]

AMD needs good product
good product needs large R&D dept.
Large R&D dept needs Money

AMD does not have Money. =(

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 21st 2008 12:05PM]

we need fuel for the flux capacitor!

[phanbouy fan fan @ Nov 21st 2008 12:11PM]

all your makes comes to us

[kal326 @ Nov 21st 2008 12:29PM]

AMD really just needs to come out with a cheaper platform that performs better then the current Intel C2 line. In all honest AMD isn't going to topple the i7, but if they can keep the how platform price down and get something out before Intel brings out the mainstream i7 chipsets and more cpu models they have a chance to get back some of their past glory. If the P55, G55, G51, etc Intel chipsets hit before the new AMD chips do, its not going to be pretty.

Personally I wouldn't consider buying an i7 till the next year when the platform price as a whole get a LOT cheaper. Min $300 CPU, Min $300 Mobo, plus upgrading to DDR3 does not make for a cheap transition from my Q6600. Plus even upgrading from my current system is pretty hard to justify in the next year anyway.

[Tom Robertson @ Nov 21st 2008 11:02AM]

hexus.net are already trying to set a world overclock on the i7.

http://tv.hexus.net//show/2008/11/Benchtec_UK_World_Record_attempt_part_3_-_Out_comes_the_LN2/

We will just have to wait to see which one comes out better!

[James @ Nov 21st 2008 11:27AM]

How many times can this guy say 'basically'

http://tv.hexus.net//show/2008/11/Benchtec_UK_World_Record_attempt_part_3_-_Out_comes_the_LN2/

[angelwolf71885 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:30AM]

with that limmater it wont be much of a record saddly..
and no the extream edishon dosent count..
bc its not as commen as water..

im more intersted in commen consumer parts

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 21st 2008 1:39PM]

"How many times can this guy say 'basically'"

Not as many times as Carmack can say 'in there'

[fieldcar @ Nov 21st 2008 11:02AM]

"Yay for the underdog" says an AMD fanboy since their K6-2 300Mhz.

[angelwolf71885 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:34AM]

my first system was a sis 330 k62 500Mhz..

ive been hooked ever since :D

[Xenoterranos @ Nov 21st 2008 3:01PM]

I upgraded a 200mhz Packard bell P1 to an AMD K6-2 500 with a firmware chip swap back in the day. That any my pirated copy of windows 98 (a!) where the shizzle!

I turned that K6-2 into a refrigerator magnet after a storm took the whole thing out. It' still doing it's duty holding my Chinese take out menu to the food box. Go AMD!

[M @ Nov 21st 2008 4:38PM]

My first laptop had a K6 chip and it flew! It's a shame how far AMD has fallen since then.

[tbone @ Nov 21st 2008 11:03AM]

i wouldn't mind getting it, especially if it was significantly cheaper than than core i7 and still preformed well

[RyanTV @ Nov 21st 2008 11:09AM]

Except what will REALLY happen is that AMD will delay the everliving crap out of it and by the time it actually comes to market you can get an Intel i7 that outperforms it for the same or less money.

The delays are what is really killing AMD. They do know how to make a decent product, they just can't do it in a timely manner. That is why Intel is, quite literally, crushing them.

[eiki @ Nov 21st 2008 11:07AM]

they changed the model number to from 20350 to 920, thank the lord!

[The Walrus @ Nov 21st 2008 11:27AM]

This is great to see, AMD really needs to get out of this rut. Sure, they offer a nice selection of low and midrange products but Intel's highend dominance needs at least some competition. Want more details

[Unique Gift Ideas @ Nov 21st 2008 11:12AM]

That guy with the blue gloves is really bringing the intensity to this photo. I'm trying to come up with a clever caption for him, but my humor and wit usually escapes me this early in the day.

[eiki @ Nov 21st 2008 11:16AM]

"if i tweak this it will up the fpGCI (floating point green cucumber intensity) of the graph by 1000%"

[Asvhockey88 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:18AM]

"Hey, when we're done, wanna do a liquid nitrogen kegstand?"

[Joseph @ Nov 21st 2008 12:05PM]

"Mester....the precesser es reedy!"

[Dave @ Nov 21st 2008 12:12PM]

Here we see an early experiment in the search for River Tam.

[phanbouy fan fan @ Nov 21st 2008 12:13PM]

"I haven't been laid in 3.26 years!"

[Adam @ Nov 21st 2008 11:14AM]

I really hope so because I am more than willing to buy AMD over Intel any day of the week :)

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:23AM]

Umm... liquid nitrogen ;)

[ClarkyAC @ Nov 21st 2008 5:08PM]

i prefer the liquid hidrogen..

But your right, Liquid Nitrogen is FAR more easy to get hold of.

[robmora @ Nov 21st 2008 11:15AM]

That sun of a bitch is ice cold.

[Risky @ Nov 21st 2008 1:51PM]

Reference aside, your ice is pretty cold or your liquid nitrogen is pretty warm if you think that is only "ice" cold.

[Angus Hedger @ Nov 21st 2008 11:16AM]

This could be a good sign, the real problem with the current phenom's is that they didn't seem to scale upwards very well. And the old fab process.

As a "fanboy" of whoever is fastest for my money, I cant wait to see what happens here!

(Went from a AMD64 X2 setup to a C2Q one)

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Nov 21st 2008 11:24AM]

I'm also currently on AMD64 X2. But my problem now is that AMD's chipsets are consistently rated worse than Intel chipsets. I'm planning to get myself this spring Intel mobo for Intel CPU + DDR3. AMD would release first DDR3 system this spring and I doubt that first systems would be stable enough.

At least I hope that AMD/ATI would fix the idle power consumption of 4870 - otherwise I would have to go again with something from nVidia.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 21st 2008 12:09PM]

I thought the 7 series was the most advanced chipset when it was released compared to Intel and Nvidia.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 21st 2008 12:15PM]

8 series will support DDR3 but its not released until next year. Behind everyone else

[Homer @ Nov 21st 2008 11:18AM]

I'm still happy with my Athlon X2 4400+, oh wait i already replaced it with Intel E8400...

[edbansil @ Nov 21st 2008 11:21AM]

What the hell do they get from all of this? Do they really use this bull crap for work? pointless piece of crap, go get a real job.

[Tom Robertson @ Nov 21st 2008 11:44AM]

Yes they do use this stuff for work purposes, and they do have a proper job. If you're going to just insult them, then I suggest you find something better to do with your time.

[Valicore @ Nov 21st 2008 12:06PM]

Sounds like someone lost their job because they weren't smart enough and so has anger issues.

[Andy TGD @ Nov 21st 2008 6:02PM]

Dude, playing with liquid nitrogen is *always* worthwhile. Killjoy. :-(

[Nexus @ Nov 21st 2008 11:22AM]

I have actually been to lan parties where this stuff was going on. Its pretty cool, but the goal of it isnt to show off... Its to put it in peoples hands and do a few things:
-Get feedback from the far end so there is padding when released to the masses with just normal air and water cooling setups.
-generate interest for an upcoming product
-Figure out any quirks or things that need to be changed, going outside the box (lab) with real world tests and scenarios they may not have expected.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 21st 2008 11:31AM]

"30 – 40% performance increase over all."
+
"AMD is claiming a 30 – 40% power consumption reduction under full load and up to a 50% reduction under idle conditions"

Sounds like a good formula to me. Now I'm stuck with building a new rig. Just about to buy E8500 but I'd rather take AMD over Intel. I may as well wait until the end of December and buy the hard and optical drive now along with the graphics card and be ready for benchmarks. If they're not satisfactory then I'll go with Intel.

[Dubb @ Nov 21st 2008 12:16PM]

If I were you I'd wait to see if the new AMD boards will support USB 3.0 or not.

Does anyone know if the "Dragon" chips will use the AM2+ socket or will AMD using a new socket with the 7 series chipset?

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 21st 2008 1:43PM]

Uses the AM2+ and the AM3 Socket. Obviously The AM3 has something the AM2+ but I don't know what it is but it may be hyper transport or cool and quiet.

[Labrador @ Nov 21st 2008 11:50AM]

It's good to see AMD fight back. Noone wants an Intel monopoly.

[PyRo1509 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:58AM]

http://www.mynewplace.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/monopoly-guy.jpg

^ he is down for it..

[kjb434 @ Nov 21st 2008 11:51AM]

Now i know what to do with all that liquid nitrogen i have laying around.

[Joseph @ Nov 21st 2008 12:06PM]

didn't want to steal silla huh?

[Rekit @ Nov 21st 2008 12:15PM]

Pfff... this won't help me watch porn faster...