AMD's Fastest Quad-Core Chip Will Have Two Versions

AMD's Fastest Quad-Core Chip Will Have Two Versions - Sources.

Two versions, that sounds a bit complicated. Well ... it's a good way to get rid of the Deneb left-overs, I guess.

The forthcoming AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition microprocessor will not only be the fastest quad-core chip from Advanced Micro Devices, but will also exist in two versions one of which has all chances to become a dream of computer enthusiasts because of possibility to unlock two additional cores.

Sources familiar with AMD's plans claims that there will be two types of AMD Phenom II X4 970 BE central processing units (CPUs): boxed versions aimed at retail market will be based on the well known code-named Deneb design that has four cores in total; tray flavours of the chips designed for system integrators and OEMs will be based on Zosma design, which is basically six-core Thuban chip with two disabled cores that can be unlocked on certain mainboards.

Typically, tray/OEM versions of CPUs from AMD eventually emerge in retail markets, therefore, will be possible to acquire a quad-core product and transform it into six-core microprocessor using a BIOS feature of certain mainboards. Back in the past advanced mainboards allowed enthusiasts to re-enable disabled cores inside quad-core and triple-core processors without any instabilities caused by that, which meant free performance.

The quad-core AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition microprocessor will be clocked at 3.50GHz, will feature 8MB of cache, dual-channel DDR2/DDR3 memory controller and will be compatible with AM3 and select AM2+ mainboards. The product will cost around $200 and will be AMD's fastest quad-core solution ever. The chip is projected to be unveiled on September, 21, 2010.