AMD Readies 3.70 GHz Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Processor

[btarunr]

AMD is looking to give its Phenom II series a finale, with a new quad-core Phenom II X4 model, the Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition. The new chip will be clocked at 3.70 GHz out of the box (18.5 x 200 MHz). It achieves this speed while staying within the 125W TDP envelope. Based on the 45 nm "Deneb" silicon, the X4 980 BE features four x86-64 cores with 512 KB dedicated L2 cache each, and a 6 MB shared cache. Compatible with AM3 and AM2+ sockets, the chip packs a dual-channel memory controller that supports DDR3-1333 MHz or DDR2-1066 MHz memory standards. AMD will unveil the new chip soon, as the company gears up to launch next-generation chips in June.



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[Lionheart]

Interesting AMD, dat would be nice for ppl who dont know how to overclock, and I thought Phenom II supported 1600MHz Ram speeds????

 

[Melvis]

WTF??? lol, i thought they was done with Phenom II, o well still a nice stock clock, id take one if some one gave me one lol

Naaa Lionheart, only 1333, gotta overclock for those speeds.

 

[Kitkat]

Interesting AMD, dat would be nice for ppl who dont know how to overclock, and I thought Phenom II supported 1600MHz Ram speeds????

"dat's" the motherboard @1600 and "dat's" the 790FX. The 890FX supports 1800-2XXX. At the chip its 1333 you oc to get there. You wouldn't buy a black without ocing its a waste of money.

WTF??? lol, i thought they was done with Phenom II, o well still a nice stock clock, id take one if some one gave me one lol

Naaa Lionheart, only 1333, gotta overclock for those speeds.

Yes "they was done" with it. there is more than one "team" working on things im sure this is one of there last projects b4 moving on.

 

[Lionheart]

Oh ok that makes sense now, cheers guys.

 

[inferKNOX]

Interesting... nice to know that the person I'm selling my mobo & CPU to after the Bulldozers come to light will still have plenty upgrade options. At least AMD doesn't just dump previous gen owners.

 

[Dr. Nick]

3.7Ghz stock speed sounds nice. I bet you could reach 4Ghz without even raising the voltage.

 

[Imsochobo]

3.7Ghz stock speed sounds nice. I bet you could reach 4Ghz without even raising the voltage.

perhaps.
but 3,7 ghz, will we reach 3.8 stock speeds ? highest stock clocked desktop cpu ?

 

[blibba]

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27492&processor=&spec-codes=SL7Z4

 

[(FIH) The Don]

they should just put it at 4.0 instead to finish the PII lineup with a proper speed

 

[Hustler]

Well i suppose they have to use up the last remaining stocks of Phenom II's somehow......

Still a good , cheap CPU though, that will have more than enough grunt (for games) for the next couple of years.

Infact, put one of these with a 560 or 6950, and you have a kick ass cheap gaming rig.....

 

[Over_Lord]

perhaps.
but 3,7 ghz, will we reach 3.8 stock speeds ? highest stock clocked desktop cpu ?

this was imminent. SInce Bulldozer is launching in June 2nd week, AMD as customary have to refresh their line-up every quarter, starting this may is Q2 2011

So I guess a 3.4GHz Phenom II X6 is possible.

 

[Imsochobo]

this was imminent. SInce Bulldozer is launching in June 2nd week, AMD as customary have to refresh their line-up every quarter, starting this may is Q2 2011

So I guess a 3.4GHz Phenom II X6 is possible.

Maybe we will see one last phenom II at 3.8
Just to have beaten intel in mhz's and its almost 7 years since last intel set the record for x86 mhz cpu's

mhz doesnt really matter, but just for the fun side of it

 

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

Just give us Bulldozer already...

 

[NC37]

But still for the price...why bother when the other BE models can clock just as high. Course I'll reserve final judgment for when a review is done, but right now I'm doubting it would be worth the expense which likely has it in the X6 range. Might as well go X6 at that point.

 

[IceCreamBarr]

they should just put it at 4.0 instead to finish the PII lineup with a proper speed

I believe AMD needs to keep the chip within the TDP of 125W. Their cooling solution must be up to par and the mobo needs to have proper power delivery.

I can't say for sure but it actually sounds like a pretty big achievement for AMD. You can argue that they are making new SKU's just to sell chips (and that would be a strong argument) but I'd like to take a more positive view and say that 3.5GHz was their limit for 125W TDP at one time (just for example). As the manufacturing process matured, they were able to hit 3.6GHz within 125W and again, further maturation has allowed them to squeeze 3.7GHz out of 125W.

If that is in fact the case then Bulldozer should be a more mature chip than it would have been without those milestones from the Gen before it.

 

[Semi-Lobster]

Hey that backwards compatibility with DDR2 is still pretty enticing...

 

[Mindweaver]

I think this is kickass! The average user doesn't overclock. So, giving them the option of buying a 3.7ghz cpu is great for everyone that likes amd.

 

[Dave63]

I believe AMD needs to keep the chip within the TDP of 125W. Their cooling solution must be up to par and the mobo needs to have proper power delivery.

I can't say for sure but it actually sounds like a pretty big achievement for AMD. You can argue that they are making new SKU's just to sell chips (and that would be a strong argument) but I'd like to take a more positive view and say that 3.5GHz was their limit for 125W TDP at one time (just for example). As the manufacturing process matured, they were able to hit 3.6GHz within 125W and again, further maturation has allowed them to squeeze 3.7GHz out of 125W.

If that is in fact the case then Bulldozer should be a more mature chip than it would have been without those milestones from the Gen before it.

If the 3.5GHz was their limit for 125W TDP, what is it for the 95W that is my max TDP on my mobo and I am at 3.5GHz stable. So I can see this new chip over 4.0GHz eazy, I will be holding off for bulldozer to be out to start the new build this fall and turn this one into a 24/7 folder for fun

 

[HalfAHertz]

Nah. It was the same back in the days with the Brisbane Athlons 6000+ . They had a pretty high base clock but you could barely OC them because they had reached the limits of the current process node. I doubt we will see any new Ph II's unless of course you don't count Llano as Phenom ;]

 

[pantherx12]

If the 3.5GHz was their limit for 125W TDP, what is it for the 95W that is my max TDP on my mobo and I am at 3.5GHz stable. So I can see this new chip over 4.0GHz eazy, I will be holding off for bulldozer to be out to start the new build this fall and turn this one into a 24/7 folder for fun

Those TDP ratings are what they are rated and guaranteed to work with is all.

My mobo is 140w max but I could run 200w through it, it just isn't designed for it.

 

[Dave63]

I agree I do not think that the TDP would limit it to only 3.5GHz. And yes most current mobo you can run a higher TDP than thay are rated at.

 

[RejZoR]

Why not go for another extra 300 and slam a magic 4GHz number on it?

 

[DigitalUK]

not surprised on this, i built a system the other day for a customer with the 1100T and was simply amazed at how easy it reached 4.0ghz with a simple artic freezer pro rev2.

 

[mstenholm]

Why not go for another extra 300 and slam a magic 4GHz number on it?

I'm pretty sure there is a good reason for not doing that.

Edit: More then one good reason...