Legit Processor Reviews

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Processor Review

Manufacturer: AMD
Product: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition
Date: Thu, Jan 08, 2009 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Chris Morrell -
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Preliminary Overclocking

To be honest, I've barely even scratched the surface of Phenom II in regards to overclocking. I only have one sample and lack any adequate temperature reading software so I've been more or less flying blind. I figured 1.45vCPU was a nice maximum vCORE for 45nm but expect much better overclocks down the road. I did three overclocking tests, maximum HTT with a low multiplier and stock vCORE, maximum frequency with multiplier overclocking and high vCORE, and maximum frequency with HTT overclocking and high vCORE.

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AMD Phenom II X4 940 Review

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Review

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Review

I really was more displeased with myself than the actual processor in overclocking Phenom II. Even after spending hours playing with the processor, I found it very hard to break the 250HTT barrier. Afterward, I realized I was running the memory controller at 2.54GHz with "low" IMC volts which may have been a frequency bottleneck.

Sadly, I cannot comment on the temperatures I was hitting or what it takes to hit 4GHz, yet. Once this article is published, then I'll be a bit more liberal with voltages and really start bashing down clock barriers. I have plans on testing with air heatsinks, dry ice, a cascade, and liquid nitrogen, all the tools in an avid overclocker's arsenal.

Next Page - Power Consumption and Voltage Scaling


Review Index
Page 1 - Phenom, Round Two
Page 2 - Same Architecture, New Process
Page 3 - Compatible Boards
Page 4 - The Test System
Page 5 - Cinebench and POV-Ray
Page 6 - wPrime and SuperPi
Page 7 - 3DMark Vantage and 2006
Page 8 - WinRar and Sandra 2009
Page 9 - Call of Duty 4 and Farcry 2
Page 10 - Crysis and Crysis Warhead
Page 11 - Assassin's Creed and Fallout 3
Page 12 - Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander
Page 13 - Preliminary Overclocking
Page 14 - Power Consumption and Voltage Scaling
Page 15 - Wrap Up and Conclusion