Windows 7 The Phenoms are coming!

[kemical]

AMD's latest chip release is scheduled for Jan 2009 and initial results look very promising. A overclock of 4GHz on air is apperently very easy to attain whilst using LN2 will get you over the 6GHz mark..
If you have a AM2+ board chances are that after a bios upgrade these chips will plop straight in so check with your boards website.
I personally held over from buying the 65nm version of the phenom as my 6400+ still performed quite reasonably in comparison (plus i didn't feel the need to upgrade). These chips however are a different story and I've definately got my name on one especially the 3GHz Black Edition version which comes with an unlocked multiplyer. Prices yet are unknown although I read an article which stated that the above version will be priced at around 40% of intels 965 i7 which are around £800 but this isn't concrete.
A article on the chips can be found here:
Phenom II overclocked to 6GHz | News | Custom PC

 

[davehc]

Now help me Kemical!
I do not play any graphic intensive games. I am aware of what overclocking means but have never attempted it.
The question is:
Whenever I have strayed into my graphics cards Control panels, or tweaking components, a message usually shows itself somewhere, advising me that it is dangerous (or something) to overclock and can shorten the life of the card.
How important is this notice, or is it a relic from the past?

 

[kemical]

As your probably aware the industry has become more overclocking friendly with many manufacturers selling motherboards,chips and graphic cards with overclocking in mind. As to it shortening a components life that depends (as I'm sure your aware) how far the 'clocking is pushed. Processors for example can be overclocked in a number of ways either by software or through the bios although the bios is usually always the better way. If the chip has a locked multiplyer then the only way to increase the speed is by raising the 'Front side bus' (intel) or Hyper transport bus (AMD) (all this I'm sure your aware) the real danger comes when you start raising voltages to stabilize the overclock. This leads to more heat ect... So it's really high voltages and heat that shortens the life of a chip. The phenom they pushed to over 6GHz had a voltage of 1.9! which is very high and only possible to do if your using LN2 as the resulting heat would be horrendous. (If I remember correctly I think the chip temp was down to -183c but how long your chip would last running with such high voltages remains to be seen.
So in conclusion overclocking isn't the dark art it used to be 'but' get it wrong and you'll end up with a load of scrap metal. The manufacturers have definately made it easier but I'm sure you would agree that knowledge is paramount and one would be a real fool not to do a huge amount of reading up on the subject first.

 

[lorenkjr1]

That message I still believe to be important, as one can mess things up if you go to far. I had my Nvidia 8500GT up to high the other night and it was producing a lot of snowy white dots on the screens. Backed it off some and all is fine now. Oddly enough I was not able to get my processor above 2.3.8 ghz. until I changed memory modules. Anyway, I think that message is still very important and should be followed with an air of caution.

 

[kemical]

I totally agree, warnings like that are there for a reason..

 

[kemical]

More on the Phenom and that overclock:

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[davehc]

Thanks guys, for the input. God and bad news for me. It confirms what I feel. My compoters are running fine for my purposes and I think I'll take the cowards way out and leave it alone.

 

[kemical]

I never overclock much, just a little as there's always a little 'headroom' left over. My 6400+ won't overclock much unless I start raising the voltage and I have to start doing that after raising the bus by only 10MHz! Mind you this is because these Athlons are already pretty much at their limit clocked at 3.2GHz so I only raise the bus by around 8MHz but you'd be surprised at the gains this small amount brings.. My card is overclocked by about 30MHz on the core and on the memory and it could go a lot further but I don't actually need to. I'm happy with the performance so I leave it alone apart from that small tweak...
Here's a nice picture of some state of the art graphics from the game Stalker:Clear Sky.. I took it at sunrise (the game has a excellent day and night cycle) and even though the screenshot looks pretty it doesn't really capture the full beauty of the actual scene.. (Checkout the texture on the ground though...awesome)

 

[kemical]

Just found some prices for the new phenoms:

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In case your wondering...
500 Australian dollars=£215 or $320

If thats the actual price in sterling then I'll be over the moon! Although some how with our ridiculous trade taxes and the like I'll wager the price will be higher..

 

[kemical]

This page here:
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gives lists of which motherboards support the upcoming Phenom 2