14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Micro Devices may no longer be too keen on releasing central processing units with unlockable cores, but it looks like some exceptions are still being made, like the Phenom II 960T.
Central processing units with unlockable cores are something that Advanced Micro Devices has had on sale for quite a few years.
Back in 2012, it looked like the Sunnyvale, California-based company had decided to no longer offer consumers such CPUs.
Still, when it came to OEMs, it still had something of the sort, like the Phenom II 960T, which came out in the third quarter of 2010, but only for OEMs.
In its base form, this processor was a quad-core unit with a base clock of 3 GHz, Turbo Core technology able to push the speed to 3.4 GHz.
Nonetheless, the real asset was the fact that, being powered by the “Thuban” hexa-core architecture, it only had four operational cores because two were disabled.
Needless to say, with all the mainboards featuring unlocking technologies, it was a simple matter to turn the quad-core chip into a six-core one.
Now, it appears that OEMs are no longer the only ones with any shot at the product, as the web now offers both pictures of the boxed versions (HD96ZTWFK4DGR chip and a HD96ZTWFGRBOX) and an actual listing.
The price, in japan (since it is there that the listing was put up) is 11,280 to 11,880 Yen, which more or less corresponds to the sum of $140-$148.
As for those that want something to compare the the hardware component with, the “Zosma” core-based Thuban, when fully unlocked, should have specifications on par with those of the Phenom II 1075T.
It may or may not be a coincidence that this particular product surfaced around the same time as the Core i7-980, Intel's new 32nm chip without an unlocked multiplier.