Not all CPUs are created equal
AMD's fabs are making mixed CPUs...
Source : The Inquirer
By Theo Valich: Wednesday 08 March 2006, 23:51
WHEN AMD INTRODUCED the Athlon 64 FX-55 and the 4000+, the company issued a press release that presented the introduction of an improved technique of Silicon on Insulator (SOI). The improvement carried the name Strained Silicon on Insulator (SSOI). The processors in question received rave reviews about its overclockability only using air cooling. Most FX CPUs worked on clocks such as 3.0 GHz with no problem, even if only retail, double-heatpipe cooler was used.
However, not all of the processors are manufactured using this new improvement. There is still plenty of classic 90nm SOI being manufactured, with a conservative introduction of new parts.
So, there you go. The reason why some processors are less overclockable than others could be - the manufacturing process itself, not the positioning of the die on the wafer - one of the urban legends in the overclocking community. You can also argue that the FX-60 wasn't manufactured in SSOI process, since overclockability of the CPU wasn't as stellar as its predecessors.
How to find an SSOI manufactured CPU? While AMD isn't declaring what processors are made with the new SSOI technique, one can argue that the certain models of Socket 939 Opteron processors were extremely overclockable and those models were supposed to have SSOI. Remember, all of the processors are coming out from the very same factory where AMD is currently making all of it chips.
AMD reps expect that its efforts with the new Dual Stress Liner (DSL) technique will further improve the yields of high-end processors. While spinolas declined to talk about clockspeeds, Intel Conroe is gearing up for a 3.33 GHz clock (Extreme Edition with frontside bus clocked at 1333 MHz). Naturally, AMD is expected to push past the 3GHz barrier as well. The battle of the titans with DDR-II 800 memory is just a quarter away.
AMD's fabs are making mixed CPUs...
Source : The Inquirer
By Theo Valich: Wednesday 08 March 2006, 23:51
WHEN AMD INTRODUCED the Athlon 64 FX-55 and the 4000+, the company issued a press release that presented the introduction of an improved technique of Silicon on Insulator (SOI). The improvement carried the name Strained Silicon on Insulator (SSOI). The processors in question received rave reviews about its overclockability only using air cooling. Most FX CPUs worked on clocks such as 3.0 GHz with no problem, even if only retail, double-heatpipe cooler was used.
However, not all of the processors are manufactured using this new improvement. There is still plenty of classic 90nm SOI being manufactured, with a conservative introduction of new parts.
So, there you go. The reason why some processors are less overclockable than others could be - the manufacturing process itself, not the positioning of the die on the wafer - one of the urban legends in the overclocking community. You can also argue that the FX-60 wasn't manufactured in SSOI process, since overclockability of the CPU wasn't as stellar as its predecessors.
How to find an SSOI manufactured CPU? While AMD isn't declaring what processors are made with the new SSOI technique, one can argue that the certain models of Socket 939 Opteron processors were extremely overclockable and those models were supposed to have SSOI. Remember, all of the processors are coming out from the very same factory where AMD is currently making all of it chips.
AMD reps expect that its efforts with the new Dual Stress Liner (DSL) technique will further improve the yields of high-end processors. While spinolas declined to talk about clockspeeds, Intel Conroe is gearing up for a 3.33 GHz clock (Extreme Edition with frontside bus clocked at 1333 MHz). Naturally, AMD is expected to push past the 3GHz barrier as well. The battle of the titans with DDR-II 800 memory is just a quarter away.
