News AMD creates TWKR overclockers' chip

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/06/18/amd-creates-twkr-overclockers-chip/1

AMD is sending out small quantities of a secret new processor called the Phenom II 42 TWKR, specifically aimed at overclockers and top-end gaming systems.

 

http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/showthread.php?t=226936&highlight=twkr

^^ More info and discussion.

I especially like this jibe at the 42 name

 

I thought that joke was 43?

Anyway, AMD should really design a better chip than having Ghz waving competitions with (themself?).

 

I think its a bloody brilliant thing

Why not target extreme overclockers etc, they are the ones who would pay a premium for the top chip, especially if its designed for them to begin with, i think it is a BRILLIANT move there is no other way to look at it imo

 

It's publicity, and that's (almost) never a bad thing.

 

The 42 TWeaKeR edition I was searching my socks off since the announcement last week for benchmarks. Did not find any yet..

 

7-8Ghz :O From what stock clock speed?

 

If i was in AMD's marketing department i would be waiting for my big fat bonus.

excellent work from them and from the tech guys which created this.

are they speed-binned/freak of nature chips? or were they designed to be super fast on limited runs, like a single wafer at a time?

oh and does TWKR stand for something? or is it a cut down "TWeaKeR"?

 

it's motorola's way of naming procducts, à la RAZR/TLKR/...
Here i'ts TWKR. Twonker ? (instead of saying something else..) ^_^

Interesting marketing idea.

 

wow does overdrive support it? in a few years people could be using LN2 cooling as often as air is used right now right?

if so id buy one of these

 

oh freakin awesome, I cant wait to see some action and results from this.

 

From what I understand, there is no "stock" speed. Stock is just the stable speed you can get.

Apparently these aren't a special run of CPUs, but are the dies from the "sweet spot" of the silicon wafer, which I believe is near the centre. That is why some CPUs overclock better than others, they are probably at or near the centre. These ones are just the ones that tick all the overclockers wet-dream boxes.

As a related aside, I read somewhere that you can tell where on a wafer an AMD CPU came from by the letters after the manufacture date. Can anyone confirm this?