Slashdot Mirror
AMD Ends Overclocking On Durons
Jai writes: "AMD have finally done it. The crime has been committed and now we must reflect on this and look at setting ourselves a new pathway to overclocking AMD's successful Duron and Athlon Processors. Basically this means the pins for the multiplier are gone and no longer physically exist on the chip. Insane Hardware have a Duron and they are showing everyone as the overclocking world is filled with gloom."
Eh, this is OLD NEWS.. And UnaClocker has already found a work around... http://www.procooling.com/html/the_athlon_conspira cy.shtml
This is only the end of the mulitplier unlock. It was nice while it lasted, but Duron owners will still be able to toy with overclocking by cranking up the bus speed. There's still a lot to be played with-- Celerons and P3s are still commonly overclocked huge amounts by computer hobbyists! Mantle
How does this help AMD?
Unfortunately, overclocking is not restricted to a few hobbyists. I remember taking a huge heat sink off a Micron 166, rubbing off the compound and see a clear "Intel 133" mark on it. Manufacturers have been playing fast and loose with us for years, and when they screw with the CPU, it's just asking for Intel or AMD to come up looking bad. The average user will never know that it was overclocked (or even what that is), just that, "AMD makes junk!".
1Alpha7
Live to be Moderated
This is hardly a cause for concern, seeing as how Tom's Hardware has an article on how to change the settings without needing the pins.
The multiplier pins may be gone on your new Duron, but the multiplier can be unlocked anyway!
Read about it here: http://www.tweakers.net/reviews.ds p?Document=150
Woohooo 900Mhz, here I come!
Does no one else remember an article posted just last month dealing with this? AMD has already announced that its future chips will DECLARE ON BOOTUP what speed they are made for and what speed they currently are. This will make it blatantly obvious for any users who buy an OC'd processor w/o knowing it. So with this technology being implemented, why hurt the OC niche market? I imagine that AMD gets a TON of great word-of-mouth advertising from AMD fanatics (myself included), so why shoot themselves in the foot on this one? I don't get it...
------
Let me give you the lowdown
Disclaimer: I worked for CompUSA for over a year. I don't work for them anymore. I didn't hate my job, but I didn't adore it either. I was a Business Sales Representative, made obsolete by the centralization of corporate accounts in Dallas.
Now, I'm going to defend CompUSA against your ignorant accusations. (By the way, where did you learn that CompUSA does this?)
1: CompUSA advertises a computer, let's say a Hewlett Packard Pavilion 8775C.
2: The model number of the HP designates the specifications of the computer. In this case, the 8775C has a Pentium III 933 MHz processor. It's shipped to CompUSA in a sealed box directly from HP's distribution channels.
3: Now, if CompUSA (Or any other large retail chain for that matter) were to get this shipment of 8775C computers, and wanted to overclock them, they'd have to crack open EVERY BOX, Pull out the processor, "grind the original markings off the faceplates", overclock the machine, replace the processor, and re-seal the box.
4: What do you think will happen if you see an 8775C advertised as a 1 GHz computer? Not everyone will catch it, but SOMEONE will. And that would cause problems for CompUSA.
You'd have to be a complete idiot to think this is actually what happens. Also, if you're referring to individually packaged processors, you're wrong there as well. CompUSA doesn't regularly keep processors in stock, as they're "Special Order" items. These are ordered from distribution centers, and what you ask for when you place the order is what you get when the order comes in. No remarking, no grinding, nothing.
Don't you think that if a huge chain like CompUSA was doing this (and somehow you found out about it), they'd have a tremendous problem on their hands? The answer is: THEY WOULD! But since they're not doing what you claim, they're not in trouble.
Now, if the MANUFACTURER of that computer was remarking the chips, THAT'S a different story.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
When Intel released the Pentium there was a huge trade in remarked Pentium chips.
:)
In my opinion the Pentium was a robust chip, but when an OEM was putting a remarked chip into a customers machine they might have been effectively reducing the MTBF of the device.
Whilst the majority of users will never know that they have been conned, (whats a few blue screens between windows anyway) the ones that do find out tend to do so after a terminal failure.
All this did is hurt the Intel trademark, whilst some users came to the conclusion that Intel chips inherently fail, other users realised that their chip was in fact remarked and they thought to themselves why isn't Intel doing anything to protect me as a consumer?
It turned out to be a double edged sword which hurt Intel.
I imagine that this phenomena has been a significant factor in the development of AMD's market share.
This is the reason that Intel released the 100Mhz pentium II's with a multiplier lock.
Now that AMD have managed to release high quality chips (shh be quiet you RISC zealots) which are capable of overclocking. They are facing the same scenario.
Its important to note that they aren't trying to put an end to enthusiast overclocking, they are trying to put an end to large scale remarking cartels.
PS:- I am not implying that overclocked chips are the cause of all bluescreens in Windows
I can understand that they'd be worried about unethical retailers. There seem to be a lot of them around. I'd think that they could come up with some method of verifying the chip's true speed without locking it, so the folks who like to do that sort of thing could still do it. AMD's in a great position to stomp Intel at the moment (as I've said before) but they really need to keep all the friends they can keep.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Those Wackos at AMD have done it this time! Now they're just some chip manufacturer who sells CPU that are better, clock-for-clock, than their Intel equivalents, for less money!
I don't know if I can continue to give them business in light of this news.
:-)
AMD, like Intel, doesn't give a rat's ass what you do to your own cpu. Burn it out? They don't care one way or another.
It's the grey market area that they want to stop. These shaddy OEMs, and local PC shops that like to OC a 600 chip to 800, then sell it off as a genuine 800mhz system. While the novice computer user that buys these secretly OC'ed systems isn't any the wiser.
What happens? Their cpu burns out way too eary, and when their computer stops working due to a dead cpu, they don't give any though out to OEM that sold it. The consumer just thinks that AMD makes crappy cpus, and will just get an Intel chip the next time.
So, I dont' blame one bit for AMD to stop as much as they can on OC'ing their chips. It's not to stop your or me from taking one of their chips up a few extra mhz. It's for the bonehead local OEMs from selling a Duron OC'ed to 850+ as a genuine 850+ chip. Which sadly to say, I've seen it done all too often.
Tier 1 OEMs and authorized vendors were pushing for this. You see, if a part is readily overclockable, it is easily remarked as a higher speed part and sold at a higher price.
(I have experience in this arena, I used to work in the anti fraud group for a x86 mIcroprocessor maNufacTurer that will remain namELess)
Remarking microprocessors can be big business for remarkers. Once fully automated processes are put into place, they can "reprocess" (that's the term they use) hundereds of processors a day.
When housed got raided, there would be many hundreds of parts in process of having their appearance altered.
Remarkers don't just focus on the chips. They have the ability to produce retail boxes, appearing to all but the most highly trained eye to be authentic.
Remarking the chips and making phony boxes is the easy part. Getting the parts back into distribution is the hard part.
Just how many computer shows are there on any given weekend? Not many. How many mom/pop computer shops are just itching to save $5 on each processor, not really caring if the parts don't come from the authorized channel? Tons!
You see, if the grey market proliferates, it does so at the expense of the authorised distis and the tier 1 OEM markets.
Expect to see an even greater embrace of AMD's processors by big name manufacturers now.
Joe Goldmeer
There is more to bin sorting (determining CPU speed grades) than stability or other technical considerations.
Currently AMD is marking chips at LOWER than they are capable of running in nearly all cases due to marketing strategies, not technical limitations. AMD's K7 class chips (Athlons and Durons) are known to run stably at higher speeds, but AMD is biding it's time and keeping this headroom available for the coming mindshare fights with Intel's Pentium IV.
This is smart for AMD. The top chip, whatever speed it is, will sell for about the same price. So they can sell the lower clocked chip until Intel is able to counter with something with a faster clock speed. When that happens, AMD just changes the speed marking on the the chips they are already producing.
Yes, technical concerns are a limiting factor on chip speed ratings, but they are not the operative one for AMD right now.
Tastes Like Chicken
Would be to burn the CPU spec in some kind of ROM on the CPU. I know intel puts some scrach ROM on their chips for info, and both of them have CISC->Microcode lookup tables on their chips. Return that number with some of the other CPU-ID stuff. Instaid of "Athlon 800" the system would say "Athlon spect @ 700mhz (Overclocked to 800)" at boot.
Bios's could even be set up to display a warning if the chip is running out of spec.
Anyway, I doubt that Remarking is really what the chip-makers are worried about. I'm sure AMD would rather have us pay the $500 for an Athlon 900 then get a Duron 600, overclock it to a Ghz and get the same performace for a tenth the cost. Sure, these chips would cheap if AMD just gave them away, but I think they are more intrested in making money then being good semaritans.
I ordered my Duron 600 today, I hope I get a good one, but if I don't, I won't be to pissed, I only paid $50 for it, I certanly wouldn't think of myself as stealing anything if I can run it faster. I havn't got any money at all, and I couldn't afford to get a highpowered athlon. but if I could, I still wouldn't if AMD didn't pull these pins.
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
The submitter read the article wrong. AMD hasn't blocked overclocking. What they've done is re-locked the front-side bus multiplier on their chips.
This renders the AMD Duron supporting just as much overclocking as your favorite Intel CPU. Before this, they were _more_ overclockable.
Remember, Intel just got burned a few weeks ago (remember the 1.13 G pIII recall?) by pretty much deliberately overclocking chips that couldn't take it. So, it really shouldn't come as any surprise that AMD would do some testing, figure out how fast these chips can run SAFELY, and then take steps to ensure that they run at those safe speeds.
Sure, they might lose a bit of favor with the geek crowd, but the money, especially concerning the Duron, is in run-of-the-mill discount PCs. Having them stay sturdy does a lot for AMD's bottom line. All hail the dollar!