Overlocking by 13.04% - 2.60 GHz
Our Phenom 9600 Black Edition review sample uses a stock core voltage of 1.250 V. We were able to increase the CPU’s frequency from 2.30 GHz to 2.60 GHz without having to raise the voltage. Overclocked by 13.04%, our Phenom 9600 Black Edition was completely stable.
At its default frequency of 2.30 GHz, the Phenom 9600 uses a memory divider of 7, resulting in a memory frequency of DDR2-766. Overclocking the CPU to 2.60 GHz does not yet allow s to use the next smallest divider so that the memory speed drops to DDR2-742. An internals protection mechanism incorporated into the CPU prevents the memory from running at more than DDR2-800.
Of course you are still able to reach a higher memory clock speed by overclocking the FSB / Hypertransport bus. However, since the Black Edition processors come with an unlocked multiplier, this method does not make much sense. The Phenom’s memory controller also supports SLI functionality for memory if the RAM offers it. This feature is exclusive to the more expensive modules, though.
| CPU Frequency | Divider 5 | Divider 6 | Divider 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2600 MHz | DDR2-1040 | DDR2-866 | DDR2-742 |
| 2300 MHz | DDR2-920 | DDR2-766 | DDR2-657 |
Since the CPU limits the memory speed to a maximum frequency of DDR2-800, the memory speed defaults to DDR2-766 at 2.3 GHz and DDR2-742 at 2.6 GHz.
The memory runs 12 MHz (24 MHz DDR) slower as a result of the Phenom 9600 BE being overclocked to 2.60 GHz.
| CPU Frequency | 2.60 GHz (+ 13.04%) |
| Multiplier | x13 |
| internal FSB/HTT | 200 MHz / 1800 MHz |
| Core Voltage | default (1.250 V) |
| Memory Divider | 2600:7 |
| Memory Frequency | DDR2-742 (371 MHz) |
| Memory Latency | CL 4.0-4-4-12 |
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Oh dear...
This has certainly done them no more favours...
This is an embarrassment for AMD. It's actually worse that they released the Black Edition of this processor because it shows that even with all the tricks, AMD is currently not even posing as competition for Intel. I don't know what AMD will be able to do to keep going; it seems like no matter what they try they are still way behind Intel.
At least when Intel was beating AMD in performance in the early days of the P2, at least AMD was still a viable option because of their price/performance ratio.
I hope they come up with something though; I don't want Intel to be the only product and raise their prices.
Poor AMD. I liked you a lot but Intel are truly kicking your butts. Hopefully this is just a Rocky feint and they will be back with a vengence soon