# Phenom II Black Edition TWKR 42 Unveiled



## btarunr (Jun 30, 2009)

NDA has been lifted off AMD's newest processor for serious overclocking, the Phenom II Black Edition TWKR 42. While this processor isn't meant to be an out of the box high-speed performer, it caters specifically to those who know (TWK) the inside outs of overclocking. Hence, it comes with a speed of 2.00 GHz, but with an unlocked multiplier, high-leakage silicon, and a significantly higher overclocking headroom compared to other consumer-grade chips AMD offers. Currently AMD has only 100 of these ready to sell.

Legit Reviews is one of the first sites to review this chip, and adds an interesting list of myth busters to go with it. The chip is based on a cherry-picked high quality yield of Deneb C2 core. It comes with a vCore value of 1.44 V out of the box, and lets the overclocker decide which bus-multiplier, frequency, and voltage value to use. It comes in an exclusive jewel-case from AMD. Using air-cooling by an XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, the reviewer was able to reach 4.00 GHz on the air and more than 5.90 GHz using liquid-nitrogen cooling. 



 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jun 30, 2009)

:O oh my

Really strange it comes at 2ghz with 1.44v and doesn't really seem the OC results are beyond the 955 OCing or even 940. Hopefully future reviews net more, wonder what the price will be on this, I'm thinking it might not be too bad since they clocked it at 2ghz.


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## exodusprime1337 (Jun 30, 2009)

so where do we get those?


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jun 30, 2009)

only its limited status seems to make it special .. cause those couldnt be special numbers ...


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

5.9ghz is doable on retail silicone with LN2. now i understand the whole high leakage thing but if all it will do is 5.9ghz either the reviewer had no idea what he was doing or the chip sucked.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 5.9ghz is doable on retail silicone with LN2. now i understand the whole high leakage thing but if all it will do is 5.9ghz either the reviewer had no idea what he was doing or the chip sucked.
> 
> 
> http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1009/amd_twkr_stock_cpuz.jpg


I don't think he knows what he was doing 


maybe i will be going back to amd


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

Assassin48 said:


> I don't think he knows what he was doing
> 
> 
> maybe i will be going back to amd



no its just titled wrong the review shows k|ngp|n getting 6.89ghz valid and chew* getting 6.634ghz


also the reviewer peaked with this clock







not really all that special






chew* did that on a retail cpu



and god bless






look on the left in the dimm slots thats ice look on the right thats ice on the caps all the insulated was the cpu and they did LN2? i mean really


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## mdm-adph (Jun 30, 2009)

I don't think these are for sale, are they?  Pretty sure AMD is just giving them out to various overclocking entities.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 30, 2009)

Have you seen the Phantom Pot Prototype ?
Its a clear Pot


Me want!


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## DreamSeller (Jun 30, 2009)

Assassin48 said:


> Have you seen the Phantom Pot Prototype ?
> Its a clear Pot
> 
> 
> Me want!



yeah  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR--2ivkFSQ

maybe they put the voltage to 1.44 so the Oc'ers don't do it


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## btarunr (Jun 30, 2009)

It doesn't matter what frequencies or voltages it ships with. Its target users don't look into specs sheets. Voltage is high because so is its leakage, and it only goes on to provide more room for voltage increment. And of course, even if AMD ships this with a clock speed of 200 MHz, it shouldn't matter to the people using these chips.



cdawall said:


> chew* did that on a retail cpu



chew* is both skillful and lucky. Now that AMD is cherry-picking Deneb cores on a big scale, don't expect too many of such retail chips.


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## t77snapshot (Jun 30, 2009)

btarunr said:


> Currently AMD has only 100 of these ready to sell.



That means they will not be available I wonder how much they cost?


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

btarunr said:


> It doesn't matter what frequencies or voltages it ships with. Its target users don't look into specs sheets. Voltage is high because so is its leakage, and it only goes on to provide more room for voltage increment. And of course, even if AMD ships this with a clock speed of 200 MHz, it shouldn't matter to the people using these chips.
> 
> 
> 
> chew* is both skillful and lucky. Now that AMD is cherry-picking Deneb cores on a big scale, don't expect too many of such retail chips.



well cherry picking 100 isn't exactly going to kill the retail thing 


however 2ghz was chosen because of the way its sits 10x multi is DID0 and FID0


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## btarunr (Jun 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> well cherry picking 100 isn't exactly going to kill the retail thing



It is, because they're not stopping at 100


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## newtekie1 (Jun 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> look on the left in the dimm slots thats ice look on the right thats ice on the caps all the insulated was the cpu and they did LN2? i mean really



Ice forming like that happens even with insulation when using LN2 for prolonged periods.


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## boomstik360 (Jun 30, 2009)

Oh I am getting one.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Ice forming like that happens even with insulation when using LN2 for prolonged periods.



not when you insulate the way you are supposed to



msimax said:


> *i have to make sure another msi doesnt go on me i prepped for the 100yr storm*:rofl:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## TheGoat Eater (Jun 30, 2009)

it was actually not that great of a chip - I was in Detroit with the reviewer (Gomeler) at K|ngp|ns and both of their chips only did 5.90-6 and that board must have been destroyed on monday night / tuesday lol


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## Evo85 (Jun 30, 2009)

CDA, get one of these stat!!!

 I want to see what one will do in your hands...


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## soldier242 (Jun 30, 2009)

uhm why did they use modelling clay instead of grease and styrofoam???


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## boomstik360 (Jun 30, 2009)

I emailed a couple guys at AMD


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## Gzero (Jun 30, 2009)

I've not been paying attention to detail on the latest cores, but really, since when was:



> Hence, it comes with a speed of 2.00 GHz, but with an unlocked multiplier, high-leakage silicon, and a significantly higher overclocking headroom compared to other consumer-grade chips AMD offers.





> *high-leakage silicon*



a good thing?
Unless I'm getting the wrong impression, I can't think of any where in the cpu you want leakage???


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## TheGoat Eater (Jun 30, 2009)

soldier242 said:


> uhm why did they use modelling clay instead of grease and styrofoam???



its Kneaded Rubber Eraser and vasoline was used


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

Evo85 said:


> CDA, get one of these stat!!!
> 
> I want to see what one will do in your hands...



i'll call my guy in austin



Gzero said:


> I've not been paying attention to detail on the latest cores, but really, since when was:
> 
> 
> a good thing?
> Unless I'm getting the wrong impression, I can't think of any where in the cpu you want leakage???



yes high leakage is good


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## boomstik360 (Jun 30, 2009)

Gzero said:


> I've not been paying attention to detail on the latest cores, but really, since when was:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I was thinking the same thing lol


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## Gzero (Jun 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> i'll call my guy in austin
> 
> yes high leakage is good



Well then you better update wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leakage

^^

Can you explain or point to what you mean by leakage?
I'm completely at a loss in what is good spec for OC'ing the latest AMD cores.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

Gzero said:


> Well then you better update wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leakage
> 
> ^^
> 
> ...



there you go



			
				OCC said:
			
		

> What can be gleaned from this is that the TWKR Edition is a high leakage part, which means it has a higher static current, drain to drain. This makes it an excellent processor for overclocking since it can sustain very high voltages when combined with the excellent scaling of the architecture at very low temperatures that we have seen since the X4 940. So now, let's see what we can get out of that TWKR.



http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/amd_twkr_edition_cpu_preview/


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## Para_Franck (Jun 30, 2009)

I am not verry impressed. 4Ghz on air does not sound extraordinary.

I have an old rig with a new CPU and graphics card. I have a DFI 790FXM2RS (withSB-600) motherboard, OCZ 2x1gig ATI crossfire edition ddr2-800 memory.My CPU is 940BE with an old Scythe Ninja2 air cooler and my graphics card is an ASUS EAH4870DK 1gig edition.

I am NOT a professionnal overclocker andI manage toget a verry stable 3,7Ghz at 1,4Vcore and 2,2Volts on my memorie (OCZ recommended setting at 4-4-4-15)

I really incist on the fact that I have mostly no idea of what I am doing when OCing and that I OC using AMD overdrive.

I have juste run 2 batchs of test with everest (onestock, one OCed, to proove I am not lying), I wanted to upload them, but I am not sure how to do this with my pictures onmy HDD and not on an URL


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## erocker (Jun 30, 2009)

Para_Franck said:


> I am not verry impressed. 4Ghz on air does not sound extraordinary.



I have to agree since AMD has said that we would be getting 4ghz CPU's out of their Phenom II's before they were released.


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## kid41212003 (Jun 30, 2009)

Maybe this CPU can do 3dmark @7GHz.


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## Gzero (Jun 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> there you go
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/amd_twkr_edition_cpu_preview/



Thanks, just a little confused. Uses more Volts but puts out less heat?
Never the less I get the idea that using more volts is better since it's easier to regulate 2v than 0.5v.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

Para_Franck said:


> I am not verry impressed. 4Ghz on air does not sound extraordinary.
> 
> I have an old rig with a new CPU and graphics card. I have a DFI 790FXM2RS (withSB-600) motherboard, OCZ 2x1gig ATI crossfire edition ddr2-800 memory.My CPU is 940BE with an old Scythe Ninja2 air cooler and my graphics card is an ASUS EAH4870DK 1gig edition.
> 
> ...



while i agree with the point 3.7ghz is a super average oc on a 940BE



Gzero said:


> Thanks, just a little confused. Uses more Volts but puts out less heat?
> Never the less I get the idea that using more volts is better since it's easier to regulate 2v than 0.5v.



pretty much also the chips are still stable with more volts


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## r9 (Jun 30, 2009)

If intel did handpicking it would do 5 GHz on air.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

r9 said:


> If intel did handpicking it would do 5 GHz on air.


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## leonard_222003 (Jun 30, 2009)

Problem is a core i7 920 (some new revision i saw on anand or xbit)  reaches 4ghz on air and kills the phenom 2 in almost any game/application , end of story.
Enthusiast stuff doesn't matter for the majority who wants to play tetris , or wants to encode some  porn for his iphone.
My thoughts to AMD , your current generation of cpu's SUCKS compared to the competition(considering overclock ).


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## AhokZYashA (Jun 30, 2009)

example for the "el-cheapo" Pentium Dual-Cores
those chips can do 4 on air with a leetle bit of tweak in the VCore

my E7400 runs @3.15 @ 35C stock cooling...


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## Velvet Wafer (Jun 30, 2009)

i think its much easier breaking a hkmg than an soi... durability is worth much money...


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## mdm-adph (Jun 30, 2009)

r9 said:


> If intel did handpicking it would do 5 GHz on air.



...and if a frog had wings it wouldn't bump its ass when it jumped.    Your point?  



AhokZYashA said:


> example for the "el-cheapo" Pentium Dual-Cores
> those chips can do 4 on air with a leetle bit of tweak in the VCore
> 
> my E7400 runs @3.15 @ 35C stock cooling...



Do you want a cookie?


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## Para_Franck (Jun 30, 2009)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Para_Franck View Post
> I am not verry impressed. 4Ghz on air does not sound extraordinary.
> 
> ...



I am aware of my average OC, my point was exactly this, if an amateur like me, not knowing exactly wath he is doing, can easily get 3,71Ghz out of a standard 940BE with an old and not so good cooler, those TWKR edition OCed by professionnals SHOULD get better than 4Ghz on air


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## mdm-adph (Jun 30, 2009)

Para_Franck said:


> I am aware of my average OC, my point was exactly this, if an amateur like me, not knowing exactly wath he is doing, can easily get 3,71Ghz out of a standard 940BE with an old and not so good cooler, those TWKR edition OCed by professionnals SHOULD get better than 4Ghz on air



Don't see why -- the TWKR chips are apparently meant for LN2 cooling, since they're picked to be used at _extremely_ low temperatures.  Doesn't necessarily mean they're going to do any better on just air.


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## phanbuey (Jun 30, 2009)

Para_Franck said:


> I am aware of my average OC, my point was exactly this, if an amateur like me, not knowing exactly wath he is doing, can easily get 3,71Ghz out of a standard 940BE with an old and not so good cooler, those TWKR edition OCed by professionnals SHOULD get better than 4Ghz on air



These editions are for people with at least water-cooling - the reason that they are high leakage is so you can pump volts through them that would murder a retail part.  This chip is a toy, that's it.  It's designed for people who like to play with chips.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

found out what the issue was gomeler had a bum core that explains the lack of OC only 6.58ghz outta him lol




[XC] gomeler said:


> In all the hustle and bustle of K|ngp|n and Shamino's Vantage bonanza we nearly forgot about the AMD AM3 parts that were hauled to the event. After a midnight dinner we prepared the Gigabyte 790FXT-UD5P for a quick and dirty run with the last 7 liters of LN2 of the night.
> 
> Gautam prepared/battled with the OS that had been on a Classified, Rampage II Extreme, and then the Gigabyte 790FXT-UD5P, I prepared the insulation, and Vapor had the magic touch.
> 
> ...



http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=228424


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## Gzero (Jun 30, 2009)

Erm, he's going to RMA a board because it broke at -192C?
I don't think thats an inherent fault lol. *goes a stress tests plastic for fun*


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## Assimilator (Jun 30, 2009)

What a waste of a good mobo...

And these "TWKR" processors are hardly anything amazing when the world record OC on a Phenom II was reached with a "standard" X4 955 BE:

http://valid.canardpc.com/records.php

Once again, another marketing ploy from AMD... they seem to be getting deperate, I hope for their sake that Intel doesn't decide to release cherry-picked CPUs!


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## Para_Franck (Jun 30, 2009)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Para_Franck View Post
> I am aware of my average OC, my point was exactly this, if an amateur like me, not knowing exactly wath he is doing, can easily get 3,71Ghz out of a standard 940BE with an old and not so good cooler, those TWKR edition OCed by professionnals SHOULD get better than 4Ghz on air
> These editions are for people with at least water-cooling - the reason that they are high leakage is so you can pump volts through them that would murder a retail part. This chip is a toy, that's it. It's designed for people who like to play with chips.
> ...



Well, this prooves how little I know about overclocking, thank you guys for putting things straighter in my mind. 

It's with forums like this one and a little curiosity that people like me can begin to understand and put more interest in things like overclocking.


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## boomstik360 (Jun 30, 2009)

Assimilator said:


> What a waste of a good mobo...
> 
> And these "TWKR" processors are hardly anything amazing when the world record OC on a Phenom II was reached with a "standard" X4 955 BE:
> 
> ...



Calm yourself man geez no need to get your panties in a bunch . I am sure if cdawall had his hands on that CPU it would've been way higher than that guy from legit reviews... AMD has no reason to be desperate right now.


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## cdawall (Jun 30, 2009)

Assimilator said:


> What a waste of a good mobo...
> 
> And these "TWKR" processors are hardly anything amazing when the world record OC on a Phenom II was reached with a "standard" X4 955 BE:
> 
> ...



the twkr chip is 300mhz higher than the next highest legit score


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## TheGoat Eater (Jun 30, 2009)

r9 said:


> If intel did handpicking it would do 5 GHz on air.



already done a long time ago with Mr.Who and Fugger


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## subhendu (Jun 30, 2009)

i was expecting something big...but 2ghz


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## boomstik360 (Jun 30, 2009)

Its to mess around and clock it at whatever you want. Maybe it is an excuse for it to be somewhat cheap


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## Hayder_Master (Jun 30, 2009)

what 1.44v on 2.0ghz , how much voltage they set to get 4.0ghz on air


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## WarEagleAU (Jun 30, 2009)

One Word: NICE!


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## newtekie1 (Jul 1, 2009)

cdawall said:


> not when you insulate the way you are supposed to



Thats...excessive...


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## Assassin48 (Jul 1, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Thats...excessive...



the msi gd70 has to be well insulated to the max, i have seen too many of them die even tho they were perfectly insulated


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

hayder.master said:


> what 1.44v on 2.0ghz , how much voltage they set to get 4.0ghz on air



1.44v to hit 4ghz on air.


would people remember these chips are not made to run on air 24/7 they have been picked as high leak chips so that they can handle voltage better.

2ghz@1.44 is just a boot setting thats it.



newtekie1 said:


> Thats...excessive...



chew* has killed alot of GD70's



Assassin48 said:


> the msi gd70 has to be well insulated to the max, i have seen too many of them die even tho they were perfectly insulated



i have always wondered why


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Anybody have an idea how much this will cost? I've got a WC kit coming and I want to see if it'll handle this chip


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Anybody have an idea how much this will cost? I've got a WC kit coming and I want to see if it'll handle this chip



they wont go to retail sale and AMD has valued them at $999ea


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Seriously?


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Seriously?



yes seriously these chips are not made to hit retail they don't fit in a thermal package they want to sell not to mention they can't be warrantied they are the chips in the silcone that will run hotter and will bleed off more voltage they are not made to be lifelong chips.


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## wolf (Jul 1, 2009)

Honestly this looks to be a VERY poor offering in terms of their TOP TOP end overclockers/tweakers chip, seriously, really really disappointing.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY more value, fun and performance with an i7 920.


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

I understand the rest but if they wont sell them to the public who are they going to sell them to?
What are they going to go in?


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## Assassin48 (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> I understand the rest but if they wont sell them to the public who are they going to sell them to?
> What are they going to go in?



they are for top overclockers

they want to show what amd can do


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Oh I see, well thats somewhat cool


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## Assassin48 (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Oh I see, well thats somewhat cool



not for me ( i didnt get one lol)


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

I know thats why I said "somewhat" lol. cdawall you have any PII's your lookin to get rid of?


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## BrooksyX (Jul 1, 2009)

Wouldn't mind getting my hands on the CPU and playing with it a bit!


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## Soparik2 (Jul 1, 2009)

im getting one


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Soparik2 said:


> im getting one



Really how?


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## BrooksyX (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Really how?



lol I was thinking the same thing. Since there are only 100 total most likely all of these will just be sent out to reviewers and a few others as gifts. A few may end up on ebay but they will probably go for crazy high prices.


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Yeah probly


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## Soparik2 (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Really how?



my friend in finland will give me his 

anyone have a ln2 pot that i can buy or recommend me one. im new to the whole extreme cooling sector


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

You lucky animal!


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

But how can I believe you?


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> I know thats why I said "somewhat" lol. cdawall you have any PII's your lookin to get rid of?



nothing as of right now me and freaksavior will bench mine tomorrow tho lol


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Sweet well keep me posted man!


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Sweet well keep me posted man!



will do what kinda phenom you want i have a X4 910 that runs 24/7 stable on air@3.7-3.8ghz 1.5v


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## Soparik2 (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> But how can I believe you?



i'll be taking pics of mine when it arrives in the fancy box


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

Soparik2 said:


> i'll be taking pics of mine when it arrives in the fancy box



oh and i have a pair of LN2 containers i may be interested in letting go if you gots anything shiny


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

I want a Black Edition AM3


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> I want a Black Edition AM3



550BE?


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Depends on the price  Will it unlock ?


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Depends on the price



lol well it does this on air


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Not bad not bad. PM me a price


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Not bad not bad. PM me a price



lol after tomorrow i wanna make sure it survives me and freaksavior my goal is 5.3ghz on my CH3


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## eidairaman1 (Jul 1, 2009)

nice wanna bet these are the last batch of excellent parts before AMD starts moving to other designs.


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## boomstik360 (Jul 1, 2009)

Lol okay, don't kill it!


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## cdawall (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Lol okay, don't kill it!



will try my best


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## Evo85 (Jul 1, 2009)

boomstik360 said:


> Lol okay, don't kill it!



No, by all means, kill it....


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## Hayder_Master (Jul 3, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 1.44v to hit 4ghz on air.
> 
> 
> would people remember these chips are not made to run on air 24/7 they have been picked as high leak chips so that they can handle voltage better.
> ...




OMG , now i need one


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