AMD Phenom II TWKR Edition CPU Preview - PAGE 3

When loading the Optimized Settings in the BIOS, the X4 42 defaults at a lowly 2000MHz on the core, 1800MHz on the CPU-NB and HT link, at 1.18V. In fact, it does not really have a stock clock, since it is meant to be overclocked. So I first decided to clock it up to the X4 955's stock frequency. I was then surprised it would run at that low 1.18V.

So let's play with it. Can it do better? I put the voltage on manual settings and I slowly decreased it. I was amazed to see it would run stable at a tiny 1.12V!

Now it's time to increase frequency. Let's see what it can do at the 955's maximum clock on air cooling. Once again, it runs at a very low voltage; it needs only 0.04V more than the 955's stock voltage.

That was pretty much its maximum on air, though. However, we know that it is meant to be overclocked under extreme cooling, don't we? So I then traded the Cooler Master V8 for the dry ice cooling setup. While staying benchmark stable, it could go up to 4.6GHz. Anything higher was too much. I tried to make compromises between 4.6GHz and the next higher multiplier, but since the ASUS M4N82 Deluxe could not provide me with a HT reference clock precise to the MHz, I did not achieve anything higher. It could not provide anything between 200 and 203MHz, and at much higher clocks it simply would not boot. I tried much higher voltages but it simply would not help. Really, the X4 42 would have needed much colder temperatures to show what it is able of.

Even if it was no more stable, I knew the X4 42 would go a bit higher. I finally took a suicide screenshot at 4.8GHz and that is the highest I got.

Therefore, I will go through the benchmarking suite at the highest 'benchmark stable' overclock I reached: 4.6GHz. Let's begin testing.