AMD Breaks Overclocking Record, Leaves the Competition in the Dust

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Nate Ralph, PCWorld


http://i.imgur.com/ay33y.jpg

Case fans are so pedestrian. If you’re at all serious about smashing the world record for the highest recorded clock speed on a processor, you’re going to need cutting edge hardware, loads of ingenuity, and the experience of world class overclockers. Having massive tanks of liquid helium lying about can’t possibly hurt, either. With a bit of persistence they managed to wrangle a hit a whopping 8.429GHz, topping the previous record of 8.308GHz.

AMD’s upcoming FX processor--codenamed Bulldozer--is poised to be their most impressive hardware to date. Of course I can’t tell you why, on account of these pesky non-disclosure agreements. But while I was in Austin a few weeks ago being made privy to all manner of top-secret data points, AMD’s overclocking-sideshow gave us a taste of what the new CPUs are capable of.

http://i.imgur.com/iCz8M.jpg

We’ve covered the ins-and-outs of overclocking here at PCWorld in the past. In a nutshell, it’s a balancing act: apply voltage to improve clock speed (and thus performance), while beating back the ensuing heat.

If you’re reading this on a PC, there’s a good chance the heat being generated by your CPU is being being mitigated by a network of cooling fans in your desktop or laptop. If you’re a member of the savvier set, you may have opted for a liquid cooled system.

The burning (heh) question: how far will these new CPUs go? You can’t simply douse the CPUs in freezing liquids, or risk destroying them. And conventional methods will only take you so far. Extreme overclockers get creative.

This little experiment is well out of the realm of we mere mortals. As with any manufacturing process, there’s a bit of variation between individual CPUs. Pro-overclockers Brian Mchlachlan and Sami Maekinen spent the week prior sampling a large batch of Bulldozer processors, looking for chips that performed amicably at increased voltages.

And with liquid helium running at about $5 per liter, the tanks that AMD had on hand for their testing look to cost (and I’m guesstimating here) Ridiculous dollars, before shipping and handling charges.

http://i.imgur.com/F85hI.jpg

The overclockers designed a custom housing to maximize the amount of liquid coming into contact with a shell that’s all but grafted onto the CPU. They started off slow, with liquid nitrogen. Once temperature sensors showed that the temperature had gone as low as it could, and with the chip still chugging along merrily, it came time to switch over to the good stuff.

Increase a voltage multiplier incrementally, attempt to validate the resulting recorded clock speed in CPU-Z, repeat until the machine stalls and crashes. The tension in the room was palpable, in spite of the utter lack of visual feedback. If your eyes have largely glazed over, it’s fine: this is more akin to drag racing than traditional spectator sports: stability is the measure of a successful overclock, but you won’t be able to run any traditional benchmarks on a CPU put through these paces.

The real measure of worth here is at the lower end. These chips are tough--at least, they appear to be. Being able to to hit high clock speeds under duress bodes well for overclocking enthusiasts using traditional liquid or fan cooling techniques. We’ll know more in the coming weeks once AMD peels back some of the layers, but interesting--dareisay, cool--things are afoot.

[redred]

:huh: what does this do and do i need some of them tanks for my laptop?

[Goofy]

Pffft, just wait till my SSD and 12gb ram arrive :hand:

[Goofy]

D'you think that setup could run Tetris on max settings/full screen? :-k

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Impressive

[Goofy]

Pffft, just wait till my SSD and 12gb ram arrive :hand:


Impressive

You know it :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

D'you think that setup could run Tetris on max settings/full screen? :-k

Do you have any liquid helium lying around? :-k

[Goofy]

Do you have any liquid helium lying around? :-k

I've got some Red Bull straight out of the fridge :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Is it at -268.95C? :-k

[Goofy]

Feels pretty close to that yep :yup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:liar:

[Goofy]

Nuh-uh [-( In fact, i think my Red Bull is colder than that :-k

[Teh One Who Knocks]

It would be frozen solid :nono:

[MrsM]

It would be frozen solid :nono:

That's how he makes Red Bull suppositories

[Jezter]

I figure Hal will be cumming buckets seeing the specs and reading about it. Then he starts wanting one.

[Softdreamer]

Have to say ive been getting 3ghz out of my stock 2.2ghz dual core AMD for 4 years now.
Serious good value for money. only paid £55 for the CPU and the arctic freezer cooler

[redred]

That's how he makes Red Bull suppositories

now that is a scary thought :lol:

[Goofy]

That's how he makes Red Bull suppositories

Gives your piles wings :tup:


I figure Hal will be cumming buckets seeing the specs and reading about it. Then he starts wanting one.

Hal will spend the next 5 years reading all the reviews......... it'll be obsolete before he even thinks about buying one :nono:

[Loser]

Ermm, coming from amd, at this late in the game, kinda pathetic really.

Madshrimps took a stock intel celeron D 3.2 chip, with a home made nitrogen bong, and got that fker up to 8.1ghz.

That was back in '09.

It took amd this long to catch up? pssh :roll:

[Goofy]

tbh i heard about this Bulldozer chip about 3 years ago......... take their time dont they :lol:

[Hal-9000]

Gives your piles wings :tup:



Hal will spend the next 5 years reading all the reviews......... it'll be obsolete before he even thinks about buying one :nono:

The Bulldozer chip is old news...yes about 3 years now, right before Intel launched their i-series chips.

Overclocking in general - Hey kids, let's buy an expensive computer, then add a larger power supply and more fans, perhaps a water cooling setup,
then we can get the 3.2 processor up to 4.0 and have it run stable :) ...for about 6 months until the thing craters...

Hint for overclockers - You want a cpu that runs at 4.2 ghz? Then don't buy one that runs at 3.8 ghz and rearrange your life for that extra 400 mhz :rolleyes:

[Jezter]

Just you wait until the layered and real 3 dimensional structures come to mass production... Then these chips will feel like calculator shit.

[Hal-9000]

Overclocking to me is like buying a Ferrari that goes 180 mph top speed and every day you get in the car you mat it totally to the floor, on every journey, even going to the store :lol:

In a short time that engine will be toast as parts do wear out.......

[Muddy]

My balls are at 98.6 degrees..

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Whats your rectal temperature

[Hal-9000]

Just you wait until the layered and real 3 dimensional structures come to mass production... Then these chips will feel like calculator shit.

I've got an i5 2500k Sandy Bridge quadcore processor and 8 gigs of ram.And I have exactly one program that uses the multi cores...and it's a game :lol:
Otherwise the system runs no faster than my old dual core, 2 gigs of ram XP computer.


Until the software catches up, there's no point at all in having a pc that is able to do multi-core processing, because the chipset never asks the processor to do it! :lol:

[Jezter]

Whats your rectal temperature

Slightly lower than the temp of my balls. I just scrubbed mine clean in the shower you see.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Bulldozer chip is old news...yes about 3 years now, right before Intel launched their i-series chips.

Overclocking in general - Hey kids, let's buy an expensive computer, then add a larger power supply and more fans, perhaps a water cooling setup,
then we can get the 3.2 processor up to 4.0 and have it run stable :) ...for about 6 months until the thing craters...

Hint for overclockers - You want a cpu that runs at 4.2 ghz? Then don't buy one that runs at 3.8 ghz and rearrange your life for that extra 400 mhz :rolleyes:

Yeah, I've never understood the point of overclocking. By the time you invest in a better cooling system and PSU, you might as well have just bought the next chip up in speed rating :lol:

[Jezter]

I've got an i5 2500k Sandy Bridge quadcore processor and 8 gigs of ram.And I have exactly one program that uses the multi cores...and it's a game :lol:
Otherwise the system runs no faster than my old dual core, 2 gigs of ram XP computer.


Until the software catches up, there's no point at all in having a pc that is able to do multi-core processing, because the chipset never asks the processor to do it! :lol:

And for as long as other components can't match the power of the CPU. The machine runs just as fast as the slowest component afterall.

[Hal-9000]

Whats your rectal temperature

after Muddy pulls out, 98.6

[Hal-9000]

Yeah, I've never understood the point of overclocking. By the time you invest in a better cooling system and PSU, you might as well have just bought the next chip up in speed rating :lol:

chicken dinner for that man :thumbsup:

[Hal-9000]

And for as long as other components can't match the power of the CPU. The machine runs just as fast as the slowest component afterall.

I need to find an article where the guy created a script to see how much physical ram his Win 7 install was using...it measured the exact amounts for each process and program.
It was surprising low.The 64 bit Win 7 OS uses something like 1.48 gigs of ram just idling at the desktop and that was one the major 'users' of physical memory.

[Muddy]

I've got an i5 2500k Sandy Bridge quadcore processor and 8 gigs of ram.And I have exactly one program that uses the multi cores...and it's a game :lol:
Otherwise the system runs no faster than my old dual core, 2 gigs of ram XP computer.


Until the software catches up, there's no point at all in having a pc that is able to do multi-core processing, because the chipset never asks the processor to do it! :lol:


I have an i5 chip, and that's all I know or care... Because really what matters here is the temperature of my balls.

[Hal-9000]

ffs Windows 7 installs with 6 gigs of ram or more don't even create a virtual page file for games...because it doesn't need to :lol:

[Hal-9000]

I have an i5 chip, and that's all I know or care... Because really what matters here is the temperature of my balls.

Here's the important benchmark:

Can you open up a browser window, listen to some music, open your email and download a pirated copy of Trannieskanks14:The Weener Wars...all simultaneously without the pc hesitating or freezing?

Then you are good to go (if the balls are comfy and warm)

[Muddy]

Here's the important benchmark:

Can you open up a browser window, listen to some music, open your email and download a pirated copy of Trannieskanks14:The Weener Wars...all simultaneously without the pc hesitating or freezing?

Then you are good to go (if the balls are comfy and warm)

Yes sir.. Quad core.. :creampie:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Here's the important benchmark:

Can you open up a browser window, listen to some music, open your email and download a pirated copy of Trannieskanks14:The Weener Wars...all simultaneously without the pc hesitating or freezing?

Then you are good to go (if the balls are comfy and warm)

I used to do that, then I got Windows 7 :(

[Hal-9000]

I used to do that, then I got Windows 7 :(

so tell me..seriously...since you're a man in the pc world....

Is it my imagination that my dual core, 2 gig o ram XP machine ran faster than my current quadcore, 8 gig o ram machine running 64 bit WIN7?

If so then it's the Vista curse...the OS is dragging everything down :sad2: I sure sense that at times..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

It's your imagination :hand:

[Goofy]

Hal wants to reinstall win98, i can tell :)

[Hal-9000]

PCS?

I need honest feedback, not guys who think their new pc's run faster because they spent 1000 dollars :hand:


so tell me..seriously...since you're a man in the pc world....

Is it my imagination that my dual core, 2 gig o ram XP machine ran faster than my current quadcore, 8 gig o ram machine running 64 bit WIN7?

If so then it's the Vista curse...the OS is dragging everything down :sad2: I sure sense that at times..

[Softdreamer]

Overclocking to me is like buying a Ferrari that goes 180 mph top speed and every day you get in the car you mat it totally to the floor, on every journey, even going to the store :lol:

In a short time that engine will be toast as parts do wear out.......

I refer to my earlier post..
4 years of running at higher speed, no failure issues



Yeah, I've never understood the point of overclocking. By the time you invest in a better cooling system and PSU, you might as well have just bought the next chip up in speed rating :lol:

I saved £55 by buying the mid range chip and only spent £10 on cooling. net saving of £45 ~ $75. with that I got a top notch graphics card instead of a mid range one for the same money.

Its not about getting the fastest speed possible, its just about taking off the ridiculously low limits that are imposed on most stock chips

[Hal-9000]

I refer to my earlier post..
4 years of running at higher speed, no failure issues




I saved £55 by buying the mid range chip and only spent £10 on cooling. net saving of £45 ~ $75. with that I got a top notch graphics card instead of a mid range one for the same money.

Its not about getting the fastest speed possible, its just about taking off the ridiculously low limits that are imposed on most stock chips

So what was the difference in mhz? I overclocked an old pentium 1 chip and got a whopping 90-100 mhz, which in all honesty didn't do much.

My current processor in an i5 2500K Sandy Bridge which is pretty much made for overclocking....one guy got an extra 800 mhz, which to me would be an appreciable difference.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

More importantly....overclock = voided warranty

[Hal-9000]

More importantly....overclock = voided warranty

and that's the kicker...I bought my new PC in April and all the mobo documentation talks about overclocking and they inspire you to install two software programs
specifically for overclocking (Asus) :lol:

so as a new computer user you sit there and think - well it must be ok, here's a shiny Windows program that let's me do it :confused:

[Softdreamer]

I got a 2.2ghz up to 3ghz
Its still going at that speed now 4 years later.

with certain chips the only difference between the mid range and the top range is the stock cooler and the voltage and multiplier settings.
Shop around, and see what people are getting result wise and its safer than you would think

#edit#
Forgot to say that its dual core.. so thats double the increase :)
AMD 4200+

[fricnjay]

I run an Intel i7 950 on an ASUS Sabertooth motherboard with 24GB of Kingston HyperX memory. The I7 950 runs at 3.06GHZ but I have a huge heat sink with dual 4" fans on it and have it clocked to 3.4GHZ and my memory is slightly over clocked also. I run all this with Window 7 64bit OS and my system FLIES!!! No crashes, no lockups, totally stable! I typically will have Photoshop, Firefox, and Outlook open while watching HD video or listening to music and downloading something with no lag in any program. I was running an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 before and my new system MURDERS it.

[Hal-9000]

I run an Intel i7 950 on an ASUS Sabertooth motherboard with 24GB of Kingston HyperX memory. The I7 950 runs at 3.06GHZ but I have a huge heat sink with dual 4" fans on it and have it clocked to 3.4GHZ and my memory is slightly over clocked also. I run all this with Window 7 64bit OS and my system FLIES!!! No crashes, no lockups, totally stable! I typically will have Photoshop, Firefox, and Outlook open while watching HD video or listening to music and downloading something with no lag in any program. I was running an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 before and my new system MURDERS it.

I came a little in the back of my mouth, reading that...

My i5 runs at 3.3 and has some built in natural turbo boost that will fluctuate with the load.I clocked it at 3.7 on a handful of processor tests, which made me happy.