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AMD Offers Glimpse of Phenom II, Overclocks It Past 5GHz

Paul Lilly — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:07:02 -0600

AMD's first Phenom debut failed to live up to the pre-release hype, so the chip maker is gearing up to give it another go-round with Phenom II, otherwise known as Deneb. The official launch for Phenom's second act won't take place until January, 2009, but AMD recently invited several members of the press to its Austin, Texas headquarters to see the upcoming chip in action.

While there, attendees watched as AMD demoed Phenom II being overclocked on a variety of cooling solutions, including air, water, phase change refrigeration, and the mother of them all, Liquid Nitrogen. According to HotHardware, the Phenom II X4 danced around 4GHz at 1.55V on air with 32C temps, 4GHz+ at 1.6V on water with a 39C core temp, and over 4.4GHz in a Vapochill setup. But when doused with LN2, HotHardware says the Phenom II X4 on display ran stable at over 5GHz and booted (but not stable) at over 6GHz.

While few are equipped with or even care about LN2 cooling, breaching 4GHz on air with manageable temps bodes well for AMD's next chip release. If AMD's upcoming 45nm CPUs have the headroom to reach 4GHz and beyond, it might stand a chance next to Intel's recently released Core i7.

Thermalright IFX-14

David Murphy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:05:00 -0600

Installing Thermalright’s beefy IFX-14 CPU cooler is incredibly complex. Assembling the troublesome amalgam of parts, pieces, screws, and brackets made us long for the snap-lock mechanism of standard Intel coolers. That said, the IFX-14 delivers massive cooling when it’s up and running. But there’s a caveat: It doesn’t include any fans. Thus, its performance depends on the type of fan you attach to one or two sides of the device. Our benchmarks are based on the use of two generic 12cm fans we pulled from a box in the Lab.

Hit the jump for the full review!

Ask the Doctor: Stock Cooler Safety

The Maximum PC Staff — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:45:44 -0600

How far can I safely overclock a CPU if I’m using a stock cooler? I was building a budget rig and when I had money left over, I decided to upgrade from a high-end Athlon 64 to a really low-end 2.2GHz Phenom. I want to up the performance, even by a tiny bit, but I’m hesitant to do it with a stock cooler. Please help!

—Andy Shores

Check out Andy's answer, after the jump!

Everything You Need to Know About Nehalem's "Turbo Mode"

Gordon Mah Ung — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:05 -0500

How the world turns. Mention overclocking ten years ago at IDF and a Pinkerton would escort you off the show floor to a room where three Intel engineers would beat you with old Pentium Pro motherboards. Today, Intel is actually actively promoting overclocking, but big blue is calling it Turbo Mode.

Turbo Mode is just one of the several groundbreaking features in Nehalem, but it’s also certainly one of the most head-turning. But how exactly does it work and how do you control it? Walk with us as we decode Intel’s Turbo Mode, show you how you’ll set it up in the BIOS (with first photos), and tell you what you should expect from your next heatsink.

Want to take a look at the Nehalem BIOS? Of course you do.

Team China Wins Annual Advanced Overclocking Championship

Paul Lilly — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:10:55 -0500

Beating out 38 other contestants representing 19 countries, Chinese duo Xu Gang and Susie have won the title of AOCC 2008 Champions. Over 3,000 people attended the two day Advanced Overclocking Championship in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and saw the Chinese team take first place in all three categories of the competition.

"It is a great honor for us to win the Championship, and we think that constant practice and upgrading on overclocking knowledge are key factors that contributed to our victory," Xu Gang and Susie said. "In addition, the components that were used for overclocking were vital, and we found that Asus' hardware, and all other components from the different sponsors of AOCC, were exceptionally stable and top-notch in terms of quality. Overclocking is increasing in popularity back in China, and we think that 1-2 percent of the whole population are currently overclocking today!"

While the team gave Asus the biggest shout-out, components from Intel, Nvidia, Kingston, FSP, and Western Digital were also part of the event. Xu Gang and Susie were awarded $5,000 for their efforts.

Not on the ticket was a side competition involving LN2. Catch the YouTube video here, and definitely do not try this at home. Or anywhere else.

Overclock Your Videocard

Michael Brown — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:59:17 -0600

You’ve already pushed your CPU to the edge and taken your RAM to its outer limits. Now it’s time to put the screws to your videocard.

Click Read More for more.

In the Lab: Gordon Mah Ung Mulls Overclocking

Gordon Mah Ung — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:00:48 -0600

Cheapskates, rejoice! Bargain chips yield biggest overclock.

January 2008 - Upgrade Your PC for Free!

The Maximum PC Staff — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:39:26 -0600

The complete PDF archive of the January 2008 edition of Maximum PC, every article included, every page posted! Download it now!