Post by Renown on Mar 24, 2006 20:18:55 GMT -5
Where do I start with this one....how about the fact this is Intel's first CPU built using the 65 nm manufacturing process. Yeah....that's a nice way to start things off, the Pentium 955 EE is exactly as the name suggests, Extreme Edition. Clocking in at 3.46 GHz it's also dual-core, which is fantastic by all means.
Being a mammoth of a processor, it has a Front Side Bus [FSB] of 1,066 MHz....which leaves plenty of headroom for massive overclocking, assuming you have the proper cooling devices.
However, this chip is at the least interesting end of the CPU spectrum--the extreme high-end. It's ludicrously expensive and as previously stated it's a ludicrous overclocker.
The 955 is more than an adequate speed bump over it's predecessor, the Pentium Extreme Edition 840, underneath all of that silicon lies a very different beast when compared to the 840. Since it's built on the 65 nm process it requires less voltage and, clock-for-clock runs cooler than an 840, which is manufactured on the 90 nm process. However, as the 955 runs on a higher frequency than that of the 840 - 3.46 GHz compared to 3.2 GHz - it has the same 130W Thermal Design Power [TDP].
The Extreme Edition 955 also introduces a new catch-phrase into the dictionary - Intel Virtualization Technology, which is as spurious as it sounds. IVT is described as being able to run multiple operating systems and/or applications in independent partitions or environments for improved security and remote manageability.
The 955 will happily overclock to 4.53 GHz by raising it's multiplier from 13 to 17 and increasing it's vcore from the default of 1.3V to 1.45V, but again, if you don't have proper cooling - in this case a phase-change cooling system - thermal throttling will kick in minutes later and you'll have to settle for 4.26 GHz....which is still damn impressive.
Anyway, the Extreme Edition 955 can be the fastest overclocked CPU under the right circumstances, but it comes at a price of $1,187...and if you're able to find it cheaper...more power to you.
Comments wanted, it doesn't have to be about the Pentium 955 EE but I'd appreciate if they were.
Being a mammoth of a processor, it has a Front Side Bus [FSB] of 1,066 MHz....which leaves plenty of headroom for massive overclocking, assuming you have the proper cooling devices.
However, this chip is at the least interesting end of the CPU spectrum--the extreme high-end. It's ludicrously expensive and as previously stated it's a ludicrous overclocker.
The 955 is more than an adequate speed bump over it's predecessor, the Pentium Extreme Edition 840, underneath all of that silicon lies a very different beast when compared to the 840. Since it's built on the 65 nm process it requires less voltage and, clock-for-clock runs cooler than an 840, which is manufactured on the 90 nm process. However, as the 955 runs on a higher frequency than that of the 840 - 3.46 GHz compared to 3.2 GHz - it has the same 130W Thermal Design Power [TDP].
The Extreme Edition 955 also introduces a new catch-phrase into the dictionary - Intel Virtualization Technology, which is as spurious as it sounds. IVT is described as being able to run multiple operating systems and/or applications in independent partitions or environments for improved security and remote manageability.
The 955 will happily overclock to 4.53 GHz by raising it's multiplier from 13 to 17 and increasing it's vcore from the default of 1.3V to 1.45V, but again, if you don't have proper cooling - in this case a phase-change cooling system - thermal throttling will kick in minutes later and you'll have to settle for 4.26 GHz....which is still damn impressive.
Anyway, the Extreme Edition 955 can be the fastest overclocked CPU under the right circumstances, but it comes at a price of $1,187...and if you're able to find it cheaper...more power to you.
Comments wanted, it doesn't have to be about the Pentium 955 EE but I'd appreciate if they were.