Still, in order to maintain entry level Athlon system pricing, Athlons were repackaged and, thus, regardless of whether the label on the cartridge says 500 or 550 MHz, in most cases there were 600 or 650 MHz parts hidden inside. The fundamental difference between AMD s Athlon and the current Intel CPUs is that Intel s multiplier lock, as far as we know, is contained in a non-reprogrammable ROM to avoid remarking of CPU, whereas the Athlon multiplier can be accessed from the outside via Cholewa s Golden Fingers . Ever since the original release and the posts on Tom s Hardware, quite a few daring individuals and several companies have started resoldering the resistors on the Athlon PCB that are providing the signal for the multiplier setting on the Athlon. A risky procedure but feasible and, most importantly, only from these numbers did we find out about the enormous potential of the Athlon for overclocking. If the multiplier settings can be changed via resistor changes, there is always an easier way by simply either bypassing the resistors or else, instead of disconnecting them, by shunting them.
Details are available in any beginners physics book.
Let the games begin, only this time the stakes are much lower than what they were in the case of resoldering. . On the upper right corner of the Athlon PCB are the so-called Golden Fingers contacts that are invisible until the plastic cartridge has been removed. This is the place to connect the FreeSpeed Pro or any other card with similar features. All names and trademarks mentioned in this review are the exclusive property of the respective parent companies. All contents of this site are protected by international copyright laws.