AMD Unlocks Clock For Fastest-Ever Phenom II

Advanced Micro Devices has released its fastest processor ever, the 3.4GHz Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, and some system builders are hoping to put together desktop PCs around the new AMD chips in time to catch the tail end of the back-to-school rush.

"We're planning to do quite a bit with the higher frequency parts," said Brenda Liu, senior product manager at Secaucus, N.J.-based ZT Systems. Liu said ZT Systems will have a Phenom II X4 965-based desktop ready in September.

"We wanted to be ready for back-to-school, but we also wanted to wait for the 785G board," she said, referring to AMD's latest motherboard chipset, released in early August and now making its way onto the hardware platforms built by Taiwan-based motherboard suppliers.

The new processor, the latest in the quad-core, 45-nanometer Phenom II family code-named Deneb, was released by AMD on Thursday and is now available as a boxed product on e-tail sites for prices in the $250 range. AMD lists the Phenom II X4 965 for $245 on its latest price list.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip maker also lists the 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955 for $245. That part, released as a Black Edition product in April, shares most of its specs with the 965, but while the latter enjoys a faster clock, the newer CPU also gobbles up more juice -- drawing 140 watts to the 955's 125 watts. The 965, like the 955, slots into the AM3 socket, has 2 MB of total dedicated L2 cache, 6 MB of L3 cache and a 4000MHz HyperTransport bus.

Out of the gate, the Phenom II X4 965 is getting rave reviews for its overclocking potential -- again, a continuation of a feature that has defined the Deneb lineup since the first Phenom II parts were released in January. AMD has famously used exotic cooling solutions to take Phenom II processors to astonishing overclocking heights -- 7.0GHz appears to be the current record session -- while early reviewers of the Phenom II X4 965 report little trouble in overclocking the new chip to the upper 4's on standard air cooling.

Liu said ZT Systems would not target overclocking enthusiasts with its new 965-based systems, though she said that the headroom present in the Phenom II lineup was "a nice added benefit." Other whitebox builders do play up the overclocking potential, most notably makers of gaming systems, but also companies like Rain Recording of Ringwood, N.J., a builder of audio workstations that sells some Phenom II-based systems at a preset, overclocked frequency.

As for 965-based desktop PCs that are available now, it appears that Maingear and Cyberpower are the first system builders out of the gates with products.

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