Written
: 1/12/2000So, you got yourself a shiny new AMD Athlon and you're just bursting at the seams to overclock that baby. Dreams of 800Mhz dancing in your head, you set the jumpers on your motherboard for the desired speed...only to find out that it doesn't work! No matter what setting you try, the Athlon refuses to go higher than stock speed. You just had a close encounter with the CPU lock.
Enter the FreeSpeed Pro by Ninja Micro. The FreeSpeed Pro is a "key" to unlock that Athlon CPU. This small device plugs into the Athlon and allows you to overclock it using a series of 16 DIP switches. The unit can also let you adjust the voltage going to the CPU. This is a very important feature as most CPUs require a little voltage bump to be stable at overclocked speed.
Why do you need the FreeSpeed Pro and why even use it? When AMD made the Athlon, they locked them to its intended speed and the only way to unlock them was to use a special plug-in device that plugs into the top corner of the CPU. This device allows you to change the settings. However, AMD only makes this plug-in available to very few people. The FreeSpeed Pro is that kind of plug-in. As to why use this device. Well, the only reason is to overclock the Athlon and get more speed for no added cost, hence the name FreeSpeed.
Like Intel, all AMD Athlon CPUs, no matter what speed, comes off the same production line. Some chips just run faster than others. They are tested at different speeds and are then given a speed rating. When AMD sells a 500Mhz chip, it has to run at 500Mhz in the worst possible conditions so they put a safety margin in them. The chip may in fact be able to run a lot faster.
Both Intel and AMD use the "Yield Curve" to tell the quality of their chips. The yield curve is stated as a percentage. Intel's current yield curve on their .25u CPU is over 90%. This means that more than 90% of Intel's CPUs coming off the line can run at Intel's current maximum CPU speed (last time I check it was 700Mhz). The problem is 90% of the market doesn't need or want Intel's fastest CPU because it's just too expensive. So what does Intel or AMD do when nearly all their CPUs can run at top speed? You guess it. They mark them down and sell them as slower chips.
I have received many emails from readers who purchased an AMD Athlon 500 and upon opening up the case found that the core was really that of an Athlon 650! Of course this information is really useless because without an overclock capable motherboard like the Asus K7M, there was no way for them to overclock the CPU, short of taking out the soldering iron. This is where the FreeSpeed Pro comes in.