Interesting tidbit I came across the Internet today.
In the competing world of microprocessors (between Intel and AMD), AMD has made a definite name for itself with the Phenom II processor. Why?
Apparently, the Phenom II can clock speeds well over 5 GHz. Yeah, and the emphasis is on well over apparently.
AMD had some actual demonstrations at their gathering, and the Phenom II was able to hit 5 GHz at 1.6v by using dry ice cooling. Dry ice is CO2, and it goes directly from solid to gas (sublimation) at a temperature of -109.3 F (-78.5C for the rest of the world) at 1 atmosphere.
The Phenom II reached WELL over 5.x GHz (read: REALLY over) at 1.9v on liquid nitrogen (boiling point -321F/-196C at 1 atm). Testing looks to have been done on a Gigabyte 790GX motherboard that is currently available.
I've always used AMD processors, since I built my first computer in 1998, back when 300 MHz was top speed; I've always found AMD processors to be performing better than Intel (that's just me, I'm not about to debate with Intel fans). And they are a lot cheaper too.
The current computer I am using is the first Intel processor-based PC I have, and I only built it because I had all the parts lying about the house. It seems though that I may have to switch back to AMD in the first quarter of 2009, when the Phenom II is due for release.
