Efficiency: Optimizing The Clock Rate Of AMD's Phenom II X6

Features
By Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos
published

AMD’s six-core CPU is affordable (at least, compared to Intel's Core i7-980X). We're overclocking the Thuban design to see if its efficiency improves from faster clock rates. Comparisons to other quad- and hexa-core processors provide some perspective.

Test Setup And Overclocking Table

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System Hardware
HardwareDetails
Performance Benchmarks
Motherboard (Socket AM3)Asus Crosshair IV Formula (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: AMD 890FX, BIOS: 0505 (04/02/2010)
Motherboard (LGA 1366)Intel DX58SO (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: Intel X58, BIOS: 5000 (02/16/2010)
Motherboard (LGA 1156)Gigabyte P55A-UD7 (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: P55, BIOS: F4
CPU AMD IAMD Phenom II X6 1090T (45 nm, 3.2 GHz, 6 x 512KB L2 and 6MB L3 Cache, TDP 125W, Rev. C3)
CPU AMD IIAMD Phenom II X4 965 (45 nm, 3.4 GHz, 4 x 512KB L2 and 6MB L3 Cache, TDP 125W, Rev. C3)
CPU Intel IIntel Core i7-975 Extreme (45 nm, 3.33 GHz, 4 x 256KB L2 and 8MB L3 Cache, TDP 130W, Rev. D0)
CPU Intel IIIntel Core i7-980X Extreme (32 nm, 3.33 GHz, 6 x 256KB L2 and 12MB L3 Cache, TDP 130W)
CPU Intel IIIIntel Core i5-750 (45 nm, 2.66 GHz, 4 x 256KB L2 and 8MB L3 Cache, TDP 95W, Rev. B1)
DDR3 Memory3 x 2GB DDR3-1600 (Corsair TR3X6G-1600C8D 8-8-8-24)
GraphicsSapphire Radeon HD 5850 GPU: Cypress (725 MHz), Graphics RAM: 1,024MB GDDR5 (2,000 MT/s), Stream Processors: 1,440
Hard DriveWestern Digital VelociRaptor, 300GB (WD3000HLFS) 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Power SupplyPC Power & Cooling, Silencer 750EPS12V 750W
System Software & Drivers
Operating SystemWindows Ultimate x64 Updated on 2010-03-03
Drivers and Settings
Intel Chipset DriversChipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.1.1025
Intel Storage DriversMatrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.​9.​0.​1023

 

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Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 9.0.3.15 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min. convert WAV to MP3 audio format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kbps)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
Handbrake CLIVersion: 0.94 Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-channel, English to Video: AVC1 Audio1: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
Mainconcept Reference v2Version: 2.0.0.1555 MPEG-2 to H.264 MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec. HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2) Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2-channel, 16-bit, 224 Kbps) Codec: H.264 Pro Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS) Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
7-ZipVersion 9.1 beta LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRARVersion 3.92 RAR Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
Winzip 14Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZip Commandline Version 3 ZIPX Syntax "-a -ez -p -r" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080
Cinebench 11.5Version 11.5 Build CB25720DEMO CPU Test single and multi threaded
Adobe Photoshop CS 4 (64-Bit)Version: 11 Filtering a 16MB TIF (15000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar)
Adobe Acrobat 9 ProfessionalVersion: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferenced Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128-bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321
Microsoft Powerpoint 2007Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer
FritzFritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.3.2
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.02 Patch 1901 Options: Performance Graphics Test 1 Graphics Test 2 CPU Test 1 CPU Test 2
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.2.0 Patch 1901 PCMark Benchmark Memories Benchmark
SiSoftware Sandra 2010Version: 2010.1.16.10 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith

Overclocking Table

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AMD Phenom II X6 1090T3,200 MHz3,400 MHz3,600 MHz3,800 MHz4,000 MHz
Multiplier16x17x18x19x20x
Turbo (three cores)18x19x20x20x-
Base Frequency200 MHz200 MHz200 MHz200 MHz200 MHz
Turbo COREYesYesYesYesNo
System Idle Power83W83W85W85W125W
System Peak Power201W207W232W271W445W
Vcore1.325V1.325V1.4125V1.4875V1.55V
CPU-Z VT idle1.212V1.212V1.212V1.212V1.56V
CPU-Z VT load1.248V1.248V1.272V1.404V1.596V
StableYesYesYesYesNo
Overclocking TechniqueAMD OverDriveBIOS
Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos