Barcelona at this moment can reach 2.5 GHz and we are talking about the last stable revision of the core. This is the highest that AMD can go today and at this clock speed this quad core has a TDP of acceptable 89W. AMD can thank acceptable TDP numbers to its Silicon on Insulator production but at the same time this is its nightmare as SOI is one of the key treble that is keeping the CPU cool and don’t allow AMD to go over the magical 2.5 GHz.<br><br>
The current first batch of Barcelona chips wont clock higher than 2.5 GHz. Many will say that this was the original plan all along but AMD needs more than 2.5 GHz to go against 3.0 or 3.2 GHz Penryn with FSB 1333. AMD is in really difficult position as K10 is not what everyone expects it to be a Core 2 Quad killer. Barcelona / Agena at 2.5 GHz has problems to beat soon to be announced Core 2 Quad QX6850 with FSB 1333 and 3 GHz clock, not to mention the higher clocked Penryn CPUs.
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?op...26&Ite mid=35
AMD K10 CPU "Barcelona" clocks up to 2.5Ghz, too slow for 3Ghz+ Penryn
13th July 2007, 09:32
AMD K10 CPU "Barcelona" clocks up to 2.5Ghz, too slow for 3Ghz+ Penryn 
