Tech Mania

AMD Zosma quad cores unlock to six cores

Posted: 20 Apr 2010 07:09 PM PDT

Few weeks back with the announcent of upcoming X6 range of AMD processors,there were hints of Zosma quads being able to unlock more.Now with the confirmation from OCWorkbench.com that the quad core Zosma derivative Phenom II X4 960T (atleast the early variants) which have two disabled cores from their Thuban counterparts may be unlocked to an X6.This test was done on a 890GX based motherboard with SB850 based on the Leo platform.Good news here is AMD would be sticking with AM3 at least through 2011.

If you arent aware of what the Zosma are, then these are nothing but core Phenoms which are derived from the 45nm Deneb die.These would be targeted at the mainstream quad core market so you have a good chance of getting a hexa core for the price of a quad core.Be warned though, they shall go out of their TDP range if you succeed in unlocking them, so you may want to invest in a good cpu cooler right about now, since these babies are expected to hit the shelves in mid Q2 this year.So that gives 1 more year to save some cash and invest on these babies.

amd deskie platform 300x168 AMD Zosma quad cores unlock to six cores

On the otherside,Intel’s 6 core processor is already on sale.The six-core processor will run at speeds up to 3.6GHz and includes 12MB of L3 cache, Each core will be able to run two threads, which means the processor will be able to run 12 core simultaneously for faster processing.The processor will support DDR3 memory.So that means to say 12 core for the price of a 6 core processor.Intel until now has sold dual-core and quad-core chips for desktops though it has sold six-core chips only for servers.The six-core, Xeon 7400 series of chips, code-named Dunnington, were based on the Penryn architecture and originally released in 2008.

zosma core 300x218 AMD Zosma quad cores unlock to six cores

zosma core 2 300x223 AMD Zosma quad cores unlock to six cores

The Gulftown chips bring speed and power enhancements over Intel’s existing chips for enthusiast desktops. In addition to more cores, the processors will cut existing bottlenecks to enable faster data transfers. The chips are made using the advanced 32-nanometer process, which will reduce power leaks compared to earlier quad-core chips, which were made using the 45-nm process.

The Gulftown chip could also be the first in a new wave of processors released by Intel made using the 32-nm process. The chip maker earlier this year launched the first 32-nm process chips for mainstream desktops and laptops.So all i can say is competition seems to be building on emerging as the top most brand in the processor market with AMD having a advantage of producing value for money processors for future.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite