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Almost two years ago, AMD began to push its successful Dragon Platform for desktop systems. The fastest chip in the line-up was the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition. Today, AMD releases the latest in a long line of Black Edition CPUs, in the shape of the quad core Phenom II X4 975. Today we will detail how to get the most from this chip with a step by step overclocking guide, which will push it to the limit.
We've been told that the 975 Black Edition will cost around the same as the six core AMD Phenom II X6 1055T processor. That's a distinct disadvantage for the new chip. KitGuru really likes AMD's 6 core processors and the 1055T is a particular favourite. Even before we started testing, we had to wonder how any amount of overclocking would be able to make up for removing 2 cores while still operating in the same price space.
With an estimated retail price of $195 dollars does the X4 975 offer enough bang for the buck? It's a tough ask, and today we will find out if it succeeds.
These recent reviews seem to be all over the place tbh.
Would be a lot easier to compare and to read if you just collate all the 3.6, 4, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 data into one set of graphs and compare it to the i5 and the 1055T to more easily understand the benefits if any of cranking up the voltage and how it compares and/or where it becomes faster than the other CPUs at what clock speed. And just leave the BIOS twinkering articles at the top of the article more
I think it works well. You get a baseline figure for other CPU’s then the performance for the CPU at the reference speed, then intructions for each clock speed setting and comparisions. Its more a guide style, I like them.
4 cores from AMD is pointless now, they need 6 or nothing.
I think its an interesting way of doing it as these processors are so boring and just clocked ramped versions of older ones. This processor in particular is a complete waste of time.
Interesting to see the performance compared to the 1055T with more cores. Has a real hard time keeping up with anything. Not the best idea, AMD need a new design completely, especially with the new Core processors released yesterday.
Cant see anyone wanting this, even AMD followers. 6 cores, it has to be.
I dont agree with pineappleexpress. I bought a 1100T and I found the overclocking performance guide very helpful. sometimes with a page and 20 items on it, it gets confusing. with that article I was able to say ‘I want 4ghz’ and I went to the page, copied the bios settings, after looking at the performance gains. Its unusual style, but I like it for some articles. especially for new models with the same architecture as before.
Well ive kinda gone back on my own theory… Its because normally i just go view all pages so im not clicking next page every minute or so, and in view all theres no page headers so you’re completely lost, just re-read it through and it seems a lot more clear in single page mode
On real usage, it’s pointless to overclock a phenom II without touching CPU_NB speed and only aiming for CPU clock. You should point CPU_NB to the 2.8-3.0GHz range if you want to maximize your overclock because it will starve on bandwidth very soon, specially at >800MHz for ram. The BE gives you an unlocked multiplier and free voltage tweaking just for the CPU_NB, not only the unlocked cpu multiplier, so it should also be used. You might not get such high CPU clock due to the added heat, but the performance gain is worth it, sometimes being greater than a 200-400MHz CPU overclock.
I just don’t get how in most most am3 overclocking reviews CPU_NB is forgotten.