Hardware
AMD's six-core Thuban to have feature like Turbo Boost?
Sources close to AMD said the company's six-core Thuban processors have some form of dynamic speed boost technology called "C-state performance boost." Intel has incorporated a similar feature into certain Core i5 and i7 processors called Turbo Boost, which allows an operating system to adjust the clock frequencies of a CPU's cores based on performance requirements and the chip's TDP specifications.
Details are scarce, but X-bit Labs reports that "when single-thread performance is needed most, Thuban processors will automatically disable idle cores and overclock the remaining engines to the maximum possible level that is determined by general thermal design power." However, C-state performance boost is said to be hardware-based and will work with any operating system.
Nothing is official, but such a technology would be handy in a six-core desktop processor that supposedly has a TDP on par with quad-core Phenom II CPUs. Thuban is expected to land in May as the Phenom II X6 1035T, 1055T, and 1075T -- all of which are 45nm-based and should work with existing Socket AM2+ and AM3 motherboards.
Details are scarce, but X-bit Labs reports that "when single-thread performance is needed most, Thuban processors will automatically disable idle cores and overclock the remaining engines to the maximum possible level that is determined by general thermal design power." However, C-state performance boost is said to be hardware-based and will work with any operating system.
Nothing is official, but such a technology would be handy in a six-core desktop processor that supposedly has a TDP on par with quad-core Phenom II CPUs. Thuban is expected to land in May as the Phenom II X6 1035T, 1055T, and 1075T -- all of which are 45nm-based and should work with existing Socket AM2+ and AM3 motherboards.
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User Comments (5)
Post a comment| regenweald on February 8, 2010 3:33 PM | Hardware based overdrive ? sweet. 6 frackin cores in 2010. WOW. I'm still rocking an AMD Athlon X2 2.1 GHz I need to start fixing more PC's. |
| Guest on February 9, 2010 10:44 AM | Great, hope they put the feature on all their new CPU line too. I will buy one of it wether i already had PII 955 now hahaha. Because i trust on AMD as my financial advisor to buy value CPU. |
| SNGX1275 on February 9, 2010 2:39 PM | Reminds me of the old days and the Turbo Button |
| Guest on February 10, 2010 9:21 AM | Seeing as how Thuban's "Turbo Mode" sounds suspiciously like the power gating feature planned for Llano, I wonder if AMD slipped in a few other "future tech" into Thuban as well. I suppose they've included "power aware clock grid" design in there as well? |
| Guest on March 2, 2010 9:34 AM | Overclockers would normally disable turbo. What I want to see on this monster is multithreading support. |
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