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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."
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
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...
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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?
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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
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!