AMD overclocks new Phenom II X4 to 7GHz

While 7GHz was achieved with extreme cooling, AMD says overclocking up to 3.8GHz for the 3.2GHz X4 955 is safe at home

AMD on Thursday introduced the latest member of its Phenom II X4 family of high-performance quad-core CPUs, which the No. 2 chip maker said it had run as fast as 7 GHz in extreme overclocking tests.
Out of the box, the new X4 955 Black Edition, which is aimed at gamers and hobbyists, runs at 3.2GHz, giving it similar performance to Intel's fastest desktop chips at lower cost, AMD says.

However, AMD was able to more than double the CPU's speed during its tests, said Brent Barry, an AMD product manager.

The Web site Ripping.org notes that hobbyists with early access to the X4 955 chip have been able to clock it at up to 6.7GHz.

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-ken