# AMD Phenom II X6 PIB Units Pictured, Turbo Core Technology Detailed



## btarunr (Apr 12, 2010)

Here they are, boxes that carry AMD's first desktop six-core processors, the Phenom II X6. This line of "true six core design" processors from AMD target performance/price sweet-spots in the sub-$300 segment, targeting higher-end Intel Core i5, and even Core i7 series processors from Intel. The Phenom II X6 is based on the 45 nm "Thuban" core, and comes in the socket AM3 package. The processor is said to be backwards-compatible with socket AM2+ on motherboards with a BIOS update. Expreview sourced pictures of three Phenom II X6 processor-in-box (PIB) units, of model 1055T. 



 

 




Apart from a numerical boost in processor cores over the Phenom II X4, the Phenom II X6 brings in a landmark new feature for AMD, the Turbo Core technology. This new feature senses load on each of the processor cores, and adjusts each individual core's power-states and frequencies accordingly. Unlike with the comparable Intel Turbo Boost technology, AMD's Turbo Core tech gives the processor higher number of "Turbo" cores when the multi-threaded load is low. Turbo Boost does not require any special software to work, not even new drivers for any given OS. All its logic is embedded on-die. 

Sensing low multi-threaded power load, Turbo Core powers down three of the six cores, while sending the three remaining cores into a "Boost state". In this state, the cores' clock-speed is boosted by up to 500 MHz (multiplier +2.5x). Throughout the Boost state, the processor stays within the processor's defined TDP. The processor leaves Boost state when it senses more multi-threaded power is needed. Following are slides from AMD's press-briefing where it specifically talked about Turbo Core:



 

 

 



Apart from Phenom II X6, Turbo Core technology will also be featured on Phenom II X4 900T "Zosma" series quad-core processors. These chips will offer two Boost-state cores.

*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

did Intel buy AMD? i see intellish boxes


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## btarunr (Apr 12, 2010)

Black Edition boxes are black.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

i know
depending on the price i will be getting either the BE or the one right below it in may


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## btarunr (Apr 12, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> i know
> depending on the price i will be getting either the BE or the one right below it in may



Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition starts at US $299.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

yeah in the US

ive seen some pricetags around 450$ in denmark, but its still not bad at all, but i will have to wait and see what the price will be, but it will always be high here

here it is http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=Phenom+II+x6&sp=all&pid=800872 well its 400$


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## Kitkat (Apr 12, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition starts at US $299.



you promised me your sample after btarunr  you were drunk so u probably don't remember thanx in advance.


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## WhiteLotus (Apr 12, 2010)

Damn these are some hot prices. AND backwards compatible. I feel like they may sell a fair few of these bad boys.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

list of ASUS board to support the upcoming 6core


M4A89GTD PRO 
M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 
Crosshair III Formula
M4N72-E 
M4N82 DELUXE 	
M4N75TD 	

M4N98TD 
M4A79 Deluxe 	
M4A79T Deluxe 	
M4A78T-E 	
M4A78-E 	
M4A78-E SE 	

list with bios etc http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=woT3yofAIag5tqHw


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## crow1001 (Apr 12, 2010)

Looks sweet, 6 core CPU for 300, sounds good to me.


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## uber_cookie (Apr 12, 2010)

No Asus m-ATX motherboards supported?


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

think the 785g boards will support it aswell, dont think the list is complete yet


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## btarunr (Apr 12, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> yeah in the US
> 
> ive seen some pricetags around 450$ in denmark, but its still not bad at all, but i will have to wait and see what the price will be, but it will always be high here
> 
> here it is http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=Phenom+II+x6&sp=all&pid=800872 well its 400$



Maybe the distributors did the gay 1$=1€ conversion, and then to DKK.



Kitkat said:


> you promised me your sample after btarunr  you were drunk so u probably don't remember thanx in advance.



I've switched to LGA-1156 and i5 750. No 1090T for me.


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## Kitkat (Apr 12, 2010)

btarunr said:


> I've switched to LGA-1156 and i5 750. No 1090T for me.



well you still owe me for the UD7 pool oh and UD9 is now apparently coming. i will collect btarunr!


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Maybe the distributors did the gay 1$=1€ conversion, and then to DKK.



yeah they always do that  same as steam, but thats a different story 

but yeah, the $-€ thing adds like 40cents to each $


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 12, 2010)

I cant wait to see the reviews.


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## Esse (Apr 12, 2010)

No word from DFI yet  Hopefully they pull through for my motherboard!


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## brandonwh64 (Apr 12, 2010)

they will probly wait more til the CPUs come out.


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## Hawkster13 (Apr 12, 2010)

I can't wait for this! What's the release date?

I will be buying a new 890GX Gigabyte motherboard for this CPU 

Love me some Gigabyte hehe


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## Valdez (Apr 12, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> list of ASUS board to support the upcoming 6core
> 
> 
> M4A89GTD PRO
> ...



its an outdated list dude, here is the up-to date list:

http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/m4_6cores/


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

you're right


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## wiak (Apr 12, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Maybe the distributors did the gay 1$= conversion, and then to DKK.
> 
> 
> 
> I've switched to LGA-1156 and i5 750. No 1090T for me.



mind you, EU prices are with VAT (around 25% in norway, 25% in danmark), am not 100% sure but US prices do not include VAT, basicly remove 25% of EU prices and you get to the US price without VAT ^^


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## mtosev (Apr 12, 2010)

LOL @ AMD.using intel like boxes


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## H82LUZ73 (Apr 12, 2010)

mtosev said:


> LOL @ AMD.using intel like boxes



LOL @ Intel fans who do not know AMD use to make Intels 


As for the box it is not all that much different then the PHII boxes a little lighter shade of blue to tell them apart on shelf.


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## mdm-adph (Apr 12, 2010)

Nah, I think I'll take one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105267


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

mdm-adph said:


> Nah, I think I'll take one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105267




remember you need a MB with a G34 socket for that cpu


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## $immond$ (Apr 12, 2010)

I hope to see some benches that will punch Intel in the nose!, (probably wont happen lol) Well I hope these are going to be fast CPU's my server could use a nice upgrade from the Athlon 630 processor it is currently using.


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## Mussels (Apr 12, 2010)

500Mhz boost is nice.


hell, i might settle for the quad core version.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

ye, you might be able to unlock it


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## btarunr (Apr 12, 2010)

Mussels said:


> 500Mhz boost is nice.
> 
> 
> hell, i might settle for the quad core version.



That's what most people will do...and unlock the remaining cores. It's just that I wouldn't expect a Black Edition Zosma chip.


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## Mussels (Apr 12, 2010)

i dont even care for the unlocking, i'm all about power efficiency...

1GHz at idle (cores disabled?)
3GHz quad average/encoding
3.5Ghz dual core when gaming/older games

something akin to that, really appeals to me - a system that modifies itself based on your realtime needs.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

+ its affordable


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## Mussels (Apr 12, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> + its affordable



damn right. i can build an AMD rig (mobo + CPU + ram) for the price of a decent intel CPU.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

as i said before, i hope the price will be reduced a little as we saw it with the other pII's, then ill get one for the new gaming rig and retire the i7 for crunching


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## ASharp (Apr 12, 2010)

H82LUZ73 said:


> LOL @ Intel fans who do not know AMD use to make Intels
> 
> 
> As for the box it is not all that much different then the PHII boxes a little lighter shade of blue to tell them apart on shelf.



[deity] forbid that AMD would use a blue box. How will I ever tell them apart now?

Honestly though, if you can't tell the difference between an Intel and an AMD processor box, you probably wouldn't be buying a six core anyhow.


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## Mussels (Apr 12, 2010)

ASharp said:


> [deity] forbid that AMD would use a blue box. How will I ever tell them apart now?
> 
> Honestly though, if you can't tell the difference between an Intel and an AMD processor box, you probably wouldn't be buying a six core anyhow.



i'm not sure man, that giant AMD logo in the middle is confusing.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 12, 2010)

its a trick done by Intel, they put the AMD logo on their new boxes to get more ppl to buy their cpus


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## suraswami (Apr 12, 2010)

hmm only 3 cores gets the turbo boost out of 6 cores.  Will be interesting to see Windows keeps the game running on those boosted cores rather than on the slow cores (not sure how this will be implemented tho), may be the boosting jumps cores when the game jumps to that core (or some event in the game uses that core).

eagerly waiting for reviews.


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## theonedub (Apr 12, 2010)

I think 6 physical cores should out perform 4 physical and 4 HT. Almost certain I am going to sell my i7 and pick up one of these instead. 

When Frys starts selling them I am going to pick up two


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## dumo (Apr 12, 2010)

Already benched

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=249434


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## Radical_Edward (Apr 12, 2010)

Do want.


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## HalfAHertz (Apr 12, 2010)

Mussels said:


> 500Mhz boost is nice.
> 
> 
> hell, i might settle for the quad core version.



I'm really interested in that too. Anand said that only 3 cores need to be idle on the x6, does that mean that the x4 chips will need only 1 idling core for turbo boost to be active?
And I think it's high time for some good old CPU drivers from AMD/Intel. It's obvious that MS isn't going to do anything to address thread management, even in win 7 i see thread bouncing to inactive cores...If this is Microsoft's solution for average load over the CPU I'd like an option to regulate it or disable it in the next SP...


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## Polarman (Apr 12, 2010)

I don't really care about the box itself. Ditto for the stock cooler.


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## TheGuruStud (Apr 12, 2010)

mdm-adph said:


> Nah, I think I'll take one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105267



need those in desktop form ASAP!


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Apr 12, 2010)

I think a lot of people will be disappointed with how little performance boost you get from 2 more cores, large increases will be limited to a few applications. The $200 one will be worth it, but with the $300 black edition you'll be better off getting an i7 920/930 for the same price.


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## TheGuruStud (Apr 12, 2010)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> I think a lot of people will be disappointed with how little performance boost you get from 2 more cores, large increases will be limited to a few applications. The $200 one will be worth it, but with the $300 black edition you'll be better off getting an i7 920/930 for the same price.



And go to the dark side? NEVAR!

I wouldn't mind having one if I actually encoded anymore. CCE would love 6 cores, especially overclocked


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 12, 2010)

but wouldnt overclocking negitate the turbo core feature for enthusiast/power users??


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## crazyeyesreaper (Apr 12, 2010)

hmm someone over to XS got a x6 and it seems in winrar its 50% faster then a q9550 at 3.8ghz http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=249434


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 12, 2010)

crazyeyesreaper said:


> hmm someone over to XS got a x6 and it seems in winrar its 50% faster then a q9550 at 3.8ghz http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=249434



well I suppose thats not too bad - seeing as a Q9550 is only a quad - when it comes to compression more cores = more win


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## crazyeyesreaper (Apr 12, 2010)

well were talking stock Phenom II x6 at 2.8ghz vs a Q9550 at 3.8 1ghz difference and the PII is still 50-60% faster granted said user with the x6 is also using a 32bit os so its not a great comparison but intresting none the less


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 13, 2010)

Id like to see some games benches


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## crazyeyesreaper (Apr 13, 2010)

we shall see in due time anyway i find the results intresting but ill wait till real reviews are up


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 13, 2010)

i think this chip came out just in time as im considering what my next build will be - I could well be going back to AMD if this chip pulls through - though I would want to see what the scores are like in direct comparison to a i7


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## enzolt (Apr 13, 2010)

that 1055t is mine!!!


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## Radical_Edward (Apr 13, 2010)

Just think of the PPD you'd get with crunching with one of these....


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## crazyeyesreaper (Apr 13, 2010)

as far as i know a 1055T seems to use the same wattage as a 965 BE C2 and has about the same heat lvls so a good cooler should allow these 6 core cpus to hit 3.6 or so on air which isnt bad when u think about it for for a locked chip thats speculation of course but cherry picked 940s can hit 4ghz and most PIIs have about 800mhz of clock speed in them so id say 2.8 = 3.6 average air overclock mileage may very


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## wahdangun (Apr 13, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> remember you need a MB with a G34 socket for that cpu



what the hell are you talking about, it's even still compatible with AM2+


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## btarunr (Apr 13, 2010)

wahdangun said:


> what the hell are you talking about, it's even still compatible with AM2+



This: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1850354&postcount=25


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## Valdez (Apr 13, 2010)

http://forum.coolaler.com/showthread.php?t=235891&page=3


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 13, 2010)

wahdangun said:


> what the hell are you talking about, it's even still compatible with AM2+



if you looked above and saw the post then you would see WHAT is was talking about, relaxe!


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## Hayder_Master (Apr 13, 2010)

damn feel as a fool getting core i7 860


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 13, 2010)

you shouldnt, i still find the new p55 platform one of the best atm, mainly because you can have either SLI or CF without changing MB as with the AMD boards youd have to get another board, and since AMD and Nvidia wont be doing work together on the new boards then that is not gonna happen and you restricted to crossfire only,


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## Mussels (Apr 13, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> you shouldnt, i still find the new p55 platform one of the best atm, mainly because you can have either SLI or CF without changing MB as with the AMD boards youd have to get another board, and since AMD and Nvidia wont be doing work together on the new boards then that is not gonna happen and you restricted to crossfire only,



yeah... who'd want SLI anyway, when the current cards are fermi?

i'm iffy on P55 due to it being PCI-E 1.0 only. screws up plans for USB3.0 add in cards, for one.


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## Kantastic (Apr 13, 2010)

So can someone enlighten me as to what benefits 890FX has to offer over the current enthusiast AM3 platform 790FX? I just scored a UD5P for a very, very good deal (seriously, very good) and want to make sure I'm not making a mistake.


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## btarunr (Apr 13, 2010)

Kantastic said:


> So can someone enlighten me as to what benefits 890FX has to offer over the current enthusiast AM3 platform 790FX?



Native SATA 6 Gb/s, built on 40 nm (cooler).


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## Mussels (Apr 13, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Native SATA 6 Gb/s, built on 40 nm (cooler).



and they tend to come with USB3.0 as well (even if its not part of the chipset natively)


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## btarunr (Apr 13, 2010)

Mussels said:


> and they tend to come with USB3.0 as well (even if its not part of the chipset natively)



Yeah, most 890FX boards will have that NEC chip, and it will be wired to the 890FX NB (and not SB850), with a PCI-E 2.0 x1 link.

Also, naturally it will have higher future-proofing. Sure, recent 790FX boards will be able to support X6, X4T, but not what's next.


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## Kantastic (Apr 13, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Yeah, most 890FX boards will have that NEC chip, and it will be wired to the 890FX NB (and not SB850), with a PCI-E 2.0 x1 link.
> 
> Also, naturally it will have higher future-proofing. Sure, recent 790FX boards will be able to support X6, X4T, but not what's next.



What can possibly be next? I don't see AMD releasing native 8-12 core processors for AM3 anyway. That's going to be for Bulldozer which is on a different socket. 

So if USB 3.0 is the only benefit then I guess I have nothing to lose by sticking with 790FX. I can always buy an add-in card for SATA/USB 3. 

Thanks for the replies guys.


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## Imsochobo (Apr 13, 2010)

waaaants.
Hope it works with am2+, so i get a smooth upgrade path


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## Mussels (Apr 13, 2010)

Imsochobo said:


> waaaants.
> Hope it works with am2+, so i get a smooth upgrade path



the CPU will for sure, not sure about turbo mode or any other new features.


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## btarunr (Apr 13, 2010)

Kantastic said:


> What can possibly be next? I don't see AMD releasing native 8-12 core processors for AM3 anyway. That's going to be for Bulldozer which is on a different



There is talk that Bulldozer will continue to run on the AMx socket.


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## Imsochobo (Apr 13, 2010)

Mussels said:


> the CPU will for sure, not sure about turbo mode or any other new features.



I've heard talks about yes and no, so confused, and all the working, and traveling stealing valuable research time 

the old PHII am2+ becomes a vmware esxi node like all my prev comps, wonder what i will run now. need better internet connection and maybe i can host more crap =)

Really the reason why i buy amd, cause i can add them to the esxi cluster =) got an intel for nas tho


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## Hayder_Master (Apr 14, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> you shouldnt, i still find the new p55 platform one of the best atm, mainly because you can have either SLI or CF without changing MB as with the AMD boards youd have to get another board, and since AMD and Nvidia wont be doing work together on the new boards then that is not gonna happen and you restricted to crossfire only,



my friend six core now same price as my 860


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## theonedub (Apr 14, 2010)

Mussels said:


> yeah... who'd want SLI anyway, when the current cards are fermi?
> 
> i'm iffy on P55 due to it being *PCI-E 1.0 only*. screws up plans for USB3.0 add in cards, for one.



Am I missing something? I don't think that is true.

EDIT: I see chipset lanes, my mistake.


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## WarEagleAU (Apr 14, 2010)

Loving the blue color, but their boxes typically are more green with some gold and black, this is all bluey and I likey.


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## xtremesv (Apr 15, 2010)

If the 2 additional cores scale 1:1 compared to the X4's and get enough OC room, then Intel's entry-level i7's will have some serious competition in the USD200-350 range not to mention that every i5 will be crushed (750 included).


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