FiringSquad: Home of the Hardcore Gamer - Games, Hardware, Reviews and NewsSubmit your own or view users' CPU overclocking results!

  
 Home   News   THE MATRIX   Deals   Hardware   Games   Features   Media   Products   Forums   FS China 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Home : Hardware : CPUs : AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review
» Join the Greatest Gaming Community NOW! (It's free)

Already a member? Login
 



Random Gallery >> 
Click to view high-res Image!
The Elder Scrolls Online Leaked Screenshots and Concept Art [21] (0)

The Nvidia "Crank That S#!T Up" Quiz Show, Part 2 (6) by mohawkade
2nd Entry for Crank That S#!t Up! (2) by CamoDaGreat
[FX] 3-Screen Effect - Guide (part-2) (0) by nGAGE
My First Video (3) by Stryker
My Entry for the Crank that SH#!T Up Contest (12) by TheGamesHD
My crank that S#!T up entry (9) by iamcj
Crank That S#!t Up!!!! (6) by CamoDaGreat
My Crank that S#!t up entry :) (15) by ZEZgames
[Entry] Crank That S#!t Up Video Contest (5) by Animehero
My crank that S#!t Up entry! (13) by zin_onos

More Blogs >>




AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review
March 16, 2008   Chris Crazipper Angelini > [View My Other Articles]
Product Info | User Reviews | Article Images(13) | Image Gallery | Comments | Forum Thread
OverDrive In Depth


OverDrive In Depth


If you’ve been overclocking for long enough, then you probably remember when ABIT changed the industry with software-based BIOS tweaks. Before that, changing voltages, clock multipliers, and bus speeds meant keying in a combination of DIP switches or rearranging jumpers. The BIOS has dutifully served us well as a foundation for milking extra performance from our hardware ever since.

AMD is changing the game with OverDrive, though. The BIOS, which many mainstream gamers are likely to avoid so long as their systems are running smoothly, is seeing its heyday threatened by AMD’s Windows-based utility. Not only does OverDrive give you complete control of clock settings and voltage, but it’ll also try to peg the best possible overclock automatically if you’re uncomfortable calling the shots. Could this be a replacement for the long-revered BIOS-based adjustments?

AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review [  @ 1600 x 1200 ] > View Full-Size in another window.


AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review [  @ 1600 x 1200 ] > View Full-Size in another window.



The first time you fire up into OverDrive, you’ll find yourself in Novice mode looking at a summary screen with information about your CPU, memory, cache, and HyperTransport link. Click one screen over to the Status Monitor and you’re treated to a read out of the speed, voltage, and temperature of the Phenom’s four cores. GPU and board-level frequencies are also reported.



Shift over one more tab for a first taste of Windows-based performance modification. In Novice mode, you have a slider numbered from 1 to 10 corresponding to more aggressive overclocks. A Detailed Settings screen underneath lets you know exactly what changes were made. Three sub-menus provide options to Benchmark your tweaks, run a Stability Test, and Auto Clock the platform. Hit the Start button under that Auto Clock menu and OverDrive starts incrementally increasing the reference clock until the system fails its stability test. Talk about an easy way to crank out extra speed, even if you don’t have an intimate familiarity with overclocking.

AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review [  @ 1600 x 1200 ] > View Full-Size in another window.


AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Review [  @ 1600 x 1200 ] > View Full-Size in another window.



The last menu screen, Preference, gives you the option to switch over into Advanced mode. Flip back to the Performance Control window, now populated by a very granular Clock/Voltage sub-menu. Here’s where the veteran hardware enthusiast can work his magic. An array of sliders lets you tune every frequency imaginable and seven different voltages. A Memory tab facilitates complete control over the timing of your modules. And of course, the Benchmark and Stability Test menus let you put those tweaks to task.


Back! Inside The Phenom     OverDrive’s Results and System Setup Next!
Blog + Share: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit SU furl • More: AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Send This Article to a Friend!  
Table of Contents
  Print Entire Article  

MATRIX CONTENT » RANDOM MEDIA BLOG More Blogs >>
No ratings yet
» Please rate this
Read this Media-Blog entry!» [FX] 3-Screen Effect - Guide (part-2) (0)
by nGAGE (98) Talk with this user on their Shout Box (My other blogs) Posted 33 months ago


 Hottest Topics
Two new GRID 2 gameplay trailers speeding your way (1)
Minecraft PC sales surpass the 8 million mark (0)
New Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer debuts main characters (0)
Crysis 3 'The Fields' campaign gameplay trailer (0)
New Far Cry 3 trailer focuses on co-op campaign (0)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 Table of Contents


FiringSquad is powered by... Back to Top Site MapContact UsAdvertise With Us Privacy StatementAbout Us  
News RSSSiteseeing RSSArticle RSS   © 1998-2013 FS Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved