I'd hardly call that an ace. All it's gonna do make it run to hot

These chips will be less slower compared to the Intels. A few tenths of GHZ will not catch up.
They are still in deep performance doo doo.

Ok i guess you can call that an Ace but Intel has a Shotgun named Nahalem up their sleeve.

So my question with this is... these "Free" clock speed increases, do they come at the cost of the warranty? My assumption being an overclocker is yes they do. Also, the black edition is like buying intel's extreme version processors which, as you should know, has no multiplier lock. I would say it's no "trick up their sleeve" if it comes at the cost of the factory warranty.

anyone remember turbo button? i had one of those. it was sepouse to switch between 66 MHz and 133 MHz on my pc. yep, it was that long ago! 133 MHz pc was in "what for do you need that fast computer" category at that time.
turbo button and cool indicator was mounted on the front panel of the pc. it was salesman's favorite button. "look its 66.. and now its 133! WOW!!!" I never was able to figure out any practical use of the button. why one would need two speed pc? it is not a car! after all!
on my next trip to a computer store should i expect turbo button comeback. "look its 2.4" click "its 3.2 now! WOW!!" "The actual overclocking is done...simply by pressing a physical button...It just does not get any more better than this."

PS: i forgot, i even had 6 / 12 MHz (not GHz) pc with same turbo button. it was that long ago. was amd keeping an ace up its sleeve for like 20 years? it really just does not get any more better than this.

I'm actually pretty impressed with this marketing.

Since when is performance boost a bad thing? Don't even compare Phenom to Nehalem because you can't compare a $200 cpu to a well-over $2000 cpu. You are all Intel fanboys.

I remember having one of those

good old times

So basically the people who brought a SB700 MOBO are stuck fighting to get to 3 GHZ.

Wow, and here I thought that AMD couldn't "take it up the rectum" any more, INTEL is really "sticking it" to AMD.

What good is a 3.2 GHZ phenom compared to a Q6600 that can hit 4GHZ and IS CHEAPER THEN THE PHENOM?

Congratulations AMD you've just lost another customer. And to think since 1996 I haven't had an INTEL PC (well it's time to go back to INTEL). I was really hoping you could turn things around with the 9850 BE.

This feature seems to me like the processor is manufacture able to run on 3.2ghz. Just that they have lock out the capability.

with the new chipset the full performance will be unleashed.

I mean at least it is still very interesting if this overclocking (2.8 -> 3.2ghz) can be done without any tweaking of memory and core voltage.

perhaps we only can wait and see more information come in near future before we can make any justification.

Anything left to say?

There was a turbo button on the Taiwanese PC clone I bought in 1986. It would switch my 8086 (the first x86 processor, yeah baby!) from 4.77 to 8Mhz. The funny thing... I hardly even knew what it did until months after I got the computer (I was 12 years old and I had my hands full with Flight Simulator 2 and King's Quest 1... aaaah the good old days...). I could tell the difference in speed though as the boot sequence included a memory check of my 512Kb of RAM and it was twice as fast at 8Mhz. That said I'm pretty sure back then this was not overclocking but rather downclocking to 4.77 when the button was off.

Are these coming out soon? AMD better hurry up and get their 45nm process ramped up... Once Nehalem gets here, it's going to be VERY difficult for AMD. Even more difficult than it is now...

If you buy a new computer or rebuild your barebones every six to twelve months, your opinion of this technology may be slanted. How do you know this isn't part of a grand scheme to slingshot AMD in the dominant position? Maybe the current processors are capable of speeds past 5ghz in their current spin and they are disabled in all these intentional ways. This way, AMD stays only slightly less in performance to INTEL for at least a year...just enough time to scare Intel into blowing all their resources with new technology to get faster....while AMD remains competitively prices and the average consumer keeps buying them cause extreme speed isn’t a concern. They then unleash the fury of their new 32nm chip technology that is five times faster and twice as overclockable.


Haha, who are we kidding...AMD is screwed and they're using every gimmick in the book to keep their processors interesting to the barebones market share.

The old "Underclock" button was so you could play games designed for the old 4.77 MHz computers.

The Turbo buttong was a compatibility item...programmers didn't have the ability (or rather didn't write in some cases) speed detection/scaling into their code. A program written to run smooth on an 8mhz machine would run absurdly fast on a 12mhz machine. When encountering applications that were meant for an 8mhz machine you just needed to hit the turbo button and it would run as intended.

(8 and 12mhz were used as examples... obviously other combinations existed)

A button found on earlier (386 and 486) PC computers that would increase or decrease the performance of the computer. This button was needed for backwards compatibility in older programs and games that were written for a specific speed of computer. When faster computers were released, because the programs were written for a slower speed of computer, it would cause the program to run extremely fast, often making them unusable. Using the turbo button a user could slow the computer down allowing them to use these programs.

They stole this from Sega!!! ;)

This is an interesting idea and pretty good marketing ploy.

I wonder how this will all be deployed though. It seems to me you need first a black edition that can hold stable at 3.2GHz and a motherboard that can handle the higher TDP.

If AMD can get 3.0 and 3.2GHz stable processors out the door then just market them as new "black editions".Then charge more money for those.

I liked the turbo button idea (I had one of these back in the day) but maybe they should implement it via AMD Overdrive utility? seems to me if you are going for a black edition anyway, you are most likely an enthusiast and as such someone willing to push the processor as far as it can go stably (ie: Experiment). Pushing the little button or getting extra speed without effort just takes the fun out of the thing.
The average mainstream user probably won't notice anything.

Many games written for the 4.77MHz IBM PC just used an instruction delay loop for timing purposes (execute the NOP instruction 30 times for example). As the 'closes' got faster and faster, many of the older games became unplayable. The 'turbo' button's only useful purpose was to slow the computer down to play these games.

anyone remember turbo button? i had one of those. it was sepouse to switch between 66 MHz and 133 MHz on my pc. yep, it was that long ago! 133 MHz pc was in "what for do you need that fast computer" category at that time.
turbo button and cool indicator was mounted on the front panel of the pc. it was salesman's favorite button. "look its 66.. and now its 133! WOW!!!" I never was able to figure out any practical use of the button. why one would need two speed pc? it is not a car! after all!
on my next trip to a computer store should i expect turbo button comeback. "look its 2.4" click "its 3.2 now! WOW!!" "The actual overclocking is done...simply by pressing a physical button...It just does not get any more better than this."

PS: i forgot, i even had 6 / 12 MHz (not GHz) pc with same turbo button. it was that long ago. was amd keeping an ace up its sleeve for like 20 years? it really just does not get any more better than this.

The turbo button was there for a reason. There were some games that ran too fast if you didn't down clock it. Back in the dos days, early programs didn't recognize or were not able to adjust the game(s) if you had a fast processor. I remember playing what was it called thexder... something like that, and Wing Commander. I'd play Wing Commander on Turbo, and if I did that with the other game, it ran too fast for me, so I had to de-turbo my cpu.

CPUs and computers are much smarter today, they can down clock within the program. And if you have a dos emulator and wanted to play some of your old games on a 2 gig cpu, you'd have to use that software to down clock your CPU. I remember a couple of years ago loading in Ultima 4 for nostalgia. I was not able to control the balloon at all, and the game was moving so fast, I saw many passes, in 2 second of me idling.

That's what the Turbo button was used for.

not only a single core - Venice was going from 1,8 to 3ghz but even now when you OC a phenom by 400mhz it will NEVER beat a intel Q6600 G0 which easily goes from 2,4 to 3,4. not to mention that a Q6600 beats a OCed Phenom while running at 2,4.

And this comes from a AMD fan (disappointed after amd dropping the S939 after all the promises)

AMD has inexplicably refused to never specify the ACTUAL CLOCK SPEED of the processor for many years now, instead opting to specify clock performance equivalents, forcing us to look up in a chart what the actual clock speed of their processors is. Why not just call a spade a spade? Now THAT would be refreshing. Regardless AMD is in a tough spot. They carved a powerful niche creating powerful desktop and server processors for cheaper than Intel. Now Intel is wiping the floor with them. AMD is now 18-24 months behind the curve on multi-core processors. AMD is all but gone from the high-end latest generation x86/64-bit server market.

Already can be done on Intel chips, its called the BSEL PAd mod.

I remember having a turbo button on my pc that would actually mess with old games because the actual gameplay would be faster. 'California Games', for example, would do this iirc.

AMD chips have always been the ones that overclock the easiest and the black editions have always been multiplier unlocked -- this is no ace up the sleeve as overclocking is pushing the chip and motherboard harder (voltage stabilization)

AMD still has the ACE that their chips optimize x86 code more into RISC than any other chip and will extend this with SSE5. Then, AMDs also have the higher speed direct memory controller on chip that Intel hesitates at.

Closer to an ACE up the sleeve, but already announced is that with the ATI acquisition, high quality gpus can be attached to the processor for quicker rendering actions, See TMG on gpu vs. cpu performance.

This blog is pointless and poorly researched.

@Just a Person: Look, AMD architecture is different than Intel. AMD has more power-per-GHz than Intel processors, which is why you will see on minimum specs something like, "2.8GHz Intel P4 or better or 1.8GHz Athlon or better". A 4GHz Intel processor is not necessarily better than a 3.2GHz AMD. This doesn't mean that AMD is better, really, just that hey don't derive power from raw frequency.

Kgb, here's a huge tip. Stop saying "more better". It's just not right. Makes you sound like a moron.

Now, with that out of the way. I don't think the "turbo" button would be coming back. CPU's scale themselves now.

For example back then it was like a standard for 66mhz, and if u run it at 133 the thing will go play like fast forward. It won't increase FPS like the way u see it in quake. If u haven't used it don't knock it.

AMD rocks, they always have. Gotta love AMD.

JT
http://www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com

It is much better than to have to figure out how to overclock a CPU each time. You just buy the right mobo and the push a button when you need the performance. Simple, elegant, safe. Less risk of frying silicon.

I also want to say that all this watch out for Nahalem crap is getting on my nerves. Does anybody actually know that AMD is also working on it's own 8 core design? The last time I heard it was going to be called bulldozer. So compare apples with apples please people. I think it's coming out after Nahalem, but at the slow pace at which the software sector is adapting to the multi-core age it will hardly really matter. There are applications that run faster on Dual Core processors than on Quads right now. And I'm sure there will still be applications that run faster on Dual Cores than on the Nahalem when it comes out.

8-Core processing has a lot of potential though. So watch that space.

And for pete's sake just because you rabid intel fanboys don't like AMD does not mean that it's going down no matter how much you would enjoy doing a little cookie dance while slaughtering a goat if it were to happen. AMD is a huge company that has functioned for years in an extremely tough market and they know how to survive and even thrive. Even if the current owners have to sell the company then AMD will go on. It will just be owned by somebody else. So deal with AMD. I believe the nature of the processor will have to change radically before any of the current big brands will feel it.

Actually if you continue to investigate Theo's report, the likelihood of such implementation is getting smaller. Agena 9850 will likely dissipate over 200W of heat at 3.2Ghz. Under that circumstance, is the stock cooler sufficient? On the other hand, if AMD can easily overclock even the Tolliman to 3.2Ghz, why haven't they done so, and selling them for higher ASP?

The weirdest part of the report is "overclocking through southbridge". As far as I know, SB operates independently of CPU, and does not serve any purpose in regulating CPU/HTT/RAM speed.

From the author of "reverse hyperthreading", I will regard this as pure FUD, unless AMD really come out with this.

Now it can almost compete with my Q6700 running at 3.8GHz! Don't tell me "AMD has more power per GHz than Intel", even if that were true, how come they still can't compete? Do we see that in benchmarks? Why is Intel so much more successful than AMD? They don't have their head up their ACE.

maybe amd 8 core would be like intel quad core(2x2) slap in 2 Phenom x4 into 1 wafer there a probability and that the way i see where amd can catch up with the core race

The difference in speeds is pretty negligible, but the idea of having a "quite" mode button, where the proccessor is slowed (say from 3.2ghz to 2.0ghz for example), the fan is slowed, unessary HDDs are spun down, ext...

With ATI, I think AMD could make a great setup for a Dorm room / Studio all in one device for computing and entertainment that would rock.

AMD is finally coming round. Just like a LOT of smart folks predicted. Add these at their good price along with the midrange priced 4000 video chips, and you'll knock the pants of Intel/nVidia combos for price/performance, if not blow them completely away!

They already have this, it's call Cool-N-Queit for AMD and SpeedStep for Intel. In fact all the features you listed are standard practice on almost all OEM PC's and most if not all home built PC's have the option of using it in the BIOS.

The auto OC for a specific chipset is something new though, and a decent marketing ploy to get people to pony up for the "Extreme Super Dooper" highend motherboards instead of the basic ones. Everyone expects SATA/RAID/AUDIO/LAN/ETC from every board anyways so this is a good way to show a good bang for the buck. Spend $75 on the mobo for stock speed, spend $100 for an extra 200Mhz and spend $150 extra for 400mhz.

I'm sure for the current gaming generation that being environmentally conscious isn't in, what's w/kW power supplies and multiple large lcd monitors running, however, for those of us who like to game sometimes and othertimes just surf the net or use a word processor, how nice to be able to power down a little.

I'm an avid overclocker, so believe me when I say that you believe for a second that you can just take these chips, tell them to run at 3.0 or 3.2GHz, and they will just do so. There is no magic "Turbo" switch. Overclockers buy larger power supplies that can supply more power and use bigger, noisier heatsinks to deal with the extra heat a faster chip will produce, not to mention tweaking voltages (usually above maximum specs) to convince everything to stay stable.

Overclocking is like running your car at the red line; it shortens the lifespan and if you push it too hard it will just fail altogether. It's not something that you should ever do blindly and it's not something that most computer owners would ever want to try.

"Free" clock cycles? No such thing.

This sounds like a consumer nightmare. "You mean my 2.4ghz chip is really a 3.2ghz chip? But I can only use it at that speed if I buy a new motherboard?" At first glance, this looks like a ripoff.

Of course, this happens all of the time. You buy a chip that says 2.4GHz, but it could be faster, that's just the guaranteed safe speed; some might do 3.2GHz, some might not. It's called binning, and it's hard to find fault in such a process. The fact that they are making it easier to overclock the chip (perhaps even doing so automatically) just means more people will be able to take advantage of any additional potential.

Still, most people don't understand binning. They understand that they bought something and expect to get everything out of it. Nevermind that they were willing to buy the chip if it only did 2.4GHz; they will say, "If my chip could do 3.2GHz, why wouldn't you let me use it? Why do I have to pay more to unlock it?"

Surely this is one trick to allow them to make their Phenoms not seem so slow in the face of heavy competition from Intel, but I don't think it's going to get the response they want. People won't be thinking, "Hey, something for nothing!" they will be thinking, "Why do I have to pay more to use the power that's already there?"

If their chips really are capable of more, they would be better of speccing them higher at the same price. That would instantly speak to something consumers understand: price vs. performance.

When you can't use proper English it kind of detracts away from the authority of the article.

amd wipes the floor with intel on the 2p 4p Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 8356 and 2356, these are the fastest you can buy. do research ok..

ok to all the stupid idiots (not so savvy users) saying nehalem wipes the floor with amd is a joke as they will cost thousands and will be for the servers where AMD is KING. again do research.

AMD do have a ace up there sleeve but not this one, which is why Intel is scared and dropping prices already and bringing nehalem out soon.. well i say bring it on coz AMD will rule again very soon with shanghai or deneb etc

how many of you ediots have the top line CPU where amd currently does not compete (very few)meaning U R not 1 most likely lol, so why all this rubbish about best and worst as what you can afford and get is provided by both AMD & Intel.

WHERE MOST PEOPLE FALL (PC`s), (BANG FOR BUCK) AMD IS KING IN GPU/CPU/CHIPSET) do research b4 speak OK.

Intel is an aging, war-torn bastard old king. AMD is a young prince with only 1 years less experience (Intel formed in 1968, AMD formed in 1969). AMD has a fresh new (younger & smarter) CEO now (Dirk Meyer). Dirk was head of the design division for many years and will make Intel shake (quiver) in it's boots. I am absolutely certain that he will produce bigger and largely better products soon and in the years to come. In fact, Intel already is (quietly) quivering. Off with the tyranist (Intel's) head. Long live the heir to the throne (AMD). Viva La AMD!!

AMD just needs better marketing. They need to say something like "Intel inside (the garbage can)". Or, "Why'd you get Intel?" or "take Intel outside the bar (and beat the ever-living-$#!t outta them). LOL. Seriously, just marketed better and AMD will put Intel where they belong: OUTSIDE. Hahahahaha.

PS, Own shares of AMD/ATI for under $5 right now. I own over a hundred. Not for the $, but because I LOVE AMD and HATE INTEL and it's jerk employees.

Yeah, I remember pressing the turbo button to slow the cpu down so that we could play digger.exe and Ultima II and IV at the proper speeds. (This was before the advent of ATSlow and such you had to get from Simtel)

What's going to happen to the value of the 100 shares of AMD you own when AMD splits in less than a month? What will you be left with?

At least one half of AMD is going to be bought by another company. This "smaller chunks" strategy is excellent if you're looking to intice someone like Samsung into buying you.

Why I chose AMD 4 out of 5 times.
2 laptops 1 (1) home computers and an old Intel based server.
AMD laptop 1 (main) 550~$ (Intel equivalent probably 900-1200$)
AMD laptop second wont worry to much if lost stolen or damaged 300~$ Intel equivalent would probably be 600~$
first comp=this one's 2.0 32 bit AMD running Linux Ubuntu from the cd-rom, .. all I gota do is low level format my drive once in a while as I sleep like a baby knowing microsoft isnt here to bother me. =)) this is the only comp used to acess the internet, do all of the medial tasks like word processing, sorfing porn, checking email etc. (highly suggested idea)

main home theater comp (coming soon) 700 bare bone ATI/AMD entertainment powerhouse you heard me right!! new case, 7 fans the whole thing 700=). compared to intel/Nvidia version would cost me about 600-800 card 200-700$Chip motherboard more or 800-1500$ in short.

old server will be used in conjunction with whole home monitoring.. Ie when some one rings doorbell, car alarm goes off.. etc, maintain connection with computers/cell phones.. will be heart of the main body. will probably go with redhat over fedora, any body?

so why should I shed the extra bux on what im told to buy, or whats cool to buy?
why would I want an Iphone when I can have a blackberry AND a Walkman W810 for about the same sticker price? better music better battery better internet, better plans..

theres nothing that I can say to change the fact that I actualy pay money for AMD products. I feel like im getting more bang for my buck and that makes me feel good, no buyers remorse.
you can talk the talk but thats my walk the walk.

So this is cool-n-quiet reversed. So now it can auto overclock upwards? If I where their marketing department I would call it "Intelligent Expansion".
I really hope they look into nano-techniques at cooling. The heat-sink-fan combo is not necessary. A chip designed so that electron particle emission converge in "hot zones" or heat wave guiding via nano structures. Its the shape of the heat sink on a particle level that can create a device that can be submerged in tiny amount of liquid and remain a little above ambient even under full load. You could even, in my theory, convert the heat back into electricity in the same chip and "jump-start" it, like a car, and only apply small pulses of electricity to keep it going.