AMD's Phenom II X4 TWKR: We Give It The LN2 Treatment

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By Ton Khowdee, Bestofmedia Team
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Benchmark Results: 3DMark Vantage

When Tom's Hardware reviewed the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition back in April, the Dragon Platform scored an overall total of 9,587 points (GPU score: 9,182, CPU score: 11,052). With the TWKR running at only 5.3 GHz and dual Sapphire Radeon HD 4890s in CrossFire, we were able to achieve a total  score of 20,217 points. Comparing that to the TWKR's CPU score of 18,332, which is approximately 66% faster than the stock 955 processor.

Quad-GPU Setup

Here is a little picture of what Team IRONMODS has in store for the TWKR when the next shipment of LN2 arrives. We will be aiming for scores with the Phenom II running at over 6 GHz on all benches, with a quartet of Radeon HD 4890s in CrossFire. What type of benchmarking damage will this Dragon platform cause? Tom's Hardware will be posting an update just as soon as this goes down!

Overclocking Aftermath

With our LN2 Dewar completely empty, we leave you with a picture of the Venom CPU pot all iced up. What have we learned from AMD's latest Phenom II X4 42 Black Edition TWKR processors? If you are an extreme overclocker and enjoy benching at -190 C or colder, the TWKR processor is definitely for you. AMD is satisfying a dream for extreme overclockers all around the world. With a combination of skill and very good cooling, enthusiasts will be able to hit some crazy clocks with this chip. Now that we have used up our LN2 Dewar, we anxiously await the next refill to really push this limited-edition CPU to its limit.

And so we have the million dollar question: if these things aren't for sale, why on earth is Tom's Hardware teasing you with them? Well, it just so happens that we actually have another pair of processors (not the ones that were just beaten up) to give away.

As mentioned in the story, these are 2 GHz CPUs not covered by any warranty and destined to die an early death if you try to use them with air cooling, so we'd like to make sure these find their way into the hands of enthusiasts who want to use them for what they do best. For the complete rules (including how to register for the contest, the duration of the contest, and how winners will be picked), please click here.

Ton Khowdee
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48 Comments Comment from the forums
  • B-Unit
    Maybe Im just a weenee, but that 4th 4890 looks to be in a rather precarious position.
    Reply
  • scook9
    Well that is quite the processor. I hope they aren't going to use these to "show off" the Phenom II x4 line suggesting that these are comparable parts. This is a product that was specifically engineered for this use after all, not representative of the consumer offerings. I am very interested to see what quad 4890's are capable of.
    Reply
  • spentshells
    im actualy excited
    Reply
  • raptor550
    I guess my CPU is holding back my GPU. I'm interested in setting up some home made water cooling to get some extra frames.
    Reply
  • bk420
    I think tom's hardware should have used Liquid Helium like the people that broke the last AMD record. They might be able to the same. Great Article, I hope AMD will at least produce a limited series.

    Will water cooling be enough for this CPU? If so count me in.
    Reply
  • playerone
    Great article. But I think this just kind of backfires, most of us would really like to get our hands on a better chip and can't. The latest 955 is really no better than the 940 when it comes to overclocking and it is very likely that the 965 due out shortly will be the same.

    My January bought 940 and just bought Asus N4M82 combo runs nicely at 3.9 on air and though I'm not done with it yet I don’t expect it to go much further while being stable. I could actually get a slower 955 if I where to buy right now.
    What I would actually have liked to see would have been the soon to be released 965 and see how that does on some good air and water cooling rather than some chip that none of us can get our hands on. Will the 965 be a better overclocker, able to break 4gigs stable more consistently? Very doubtful.

    Though this was cool (ha), its just stupidly impractical for those that like extreme overclocking but actually also use their computer. Thanks for the show.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    Seriously... it's rather ridiculous...
    Reply
  • Schip
    scook9Well that is quite the processor. I hope they aren't going to use these to "show off" the Phenom II x4 line suggesting that these are comparable parts. This is a product that was specifically engineered for this use after all, not representative of the consumer offerings. I am very interested to see what quad 4890's are capable of.
    You're absolutely right that these chips are not representative of the Phenom II line up at all. However, AMD designed the whole phenom II line up to be very overclocker friendly and these TWKR parts are "just a handpicked and binned processor" as stated here at Legit Reviews. Clearly if these TWKR processors were engineered this way, they could more easily be reproduced and then sold. Cheers!
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Awesome, and insane :D.
    Reply
  • dangerous_23
    where can i get a pci-e expansion slot like the one in the last photo?
    Reply