AMD K7: 700MHz an easy overclock

Sources close to AMD said today that overclocking Athlon K7s is an easy matter, with systems builders easily able to achieve speeds of 700MHz. But things could get even better for overclocking freaks, because the same source said that AMD is likely to introduce a 750MHz part either late in Q3 or early in Q4 this year. If AMD continues its policy of supporting gamers willing to overclock their parts, that could mean some very fast systems will emerge, knocking spots off the Intel competition, he said. Multiprocessor boards are unlikely to arrive until early next year, however. Rana Mainee, European research director at AMD, said: "We don't recommend overclocking but we haven't done anything in K7 to prevent it. If people want to do that, they can choose to do so at their own risk." He said the majority of people using K7s would never want to open a machine but there were dedicated hobbyists who would want to tweak performance to its maximum. He said he was unable to confirm the 750MHz K7 Athlon part, but added: "The K7 core is a great core and its very scalable". ®