Overclocking results
We'd be remiss in returning our high-speed pair of processors back to AMD without at least taking a cursory look at overclocking performance. I decided to approach overclocking rather conservatively. My aim was to see what kind of overclock(s) I could achieve with an extra 0.1v Vcore inputted in BIOS and basic air cooling via the oversized heatsink.Both processors topped out at around 216MHz when run with their native multipliers and a touch extra voltage. That amounted to an overall clock speed of 2.592GHz for Model 4000+ and a touch over 2.8GHz of FX-55 power. I've got a sneaky feeling that our ASUS A8V Deluxe v1.0 motherboard, complete with unlockable buses, is holding both CPUs back, and there doesn't seem to be a great deal of additional voltage applied, either.
I re-ran Pifast, 3DMark2001SE, and DOOM 3 with the overclocked processors.
A ~2.6GHz Athlon 64 4000+ beats out a 2.6GHz FX-55 due to higher memory bandwidth at a similar clock speed. Looking at the FX-55s' results, 43.6s for a quiet, air-cooled setup is highly impressive.
They were fast enough already. A bit of extra CPU muscle takes us ever closer to a stock 30,000 marks with a GeForce 6800 GT graphics card. 26,192 and 26,912 represent two of the highest 3DMark2001SE benchmarks I've ever had.
It's nice to see DOOM 3 still scaling at 2.8GHz. I'd imagine 3GHz to be a doddle for the enthusiast with decent water or phase-change cooling who's fortunate enough to justify an FX-55 purchase in the coming weeks.