AMD Quells Phenom X4 960T Release Rumors

For about the past month, AMD’s rumored Phenom X4 960T chip has been floating around the Web with pictures, some benchmarks, and even results of core unlocking (that is, to turn the quad-core into a six-core). Along with AMD’s launch of new Athlon II models yesterday, many were expecting to see at least mention of the X4 960T, but a post-launch e-mail from AMD aims to put rumors to to rest.

According to AMD, the chip does in fact exist, but it might not even be made available for retail consumption:

“While there are indeed engineering CPU samples floating around of a 4-core Thuban 960T, I do not expect that processor will be released for general availability. Perhaps it may make its way to OEMs by special request, but that remains to be seen.“

Judging by what’s being said here, it sounds like AMD is somewhat confident that the CPU isn’t going to see a release at all, but “perhaps” it could make its way into OEM machines. Maybe. This is rather unfortunate as the thought of taking a quad-core and turning it into a six-core was rather exciting, especially for those who really, really want a six-core on the cheap (admittedly, the 1055T at $195 is already cheap, though).

Does this mean that AMD isn’t ever going to release a Thuban-derived quad-core? Doubtful, because AMD needs such an enticing product. Based on what’s been said, a CPU such as the 960T won’t likely see life until later this year. The company currently offers a great deal of processor models as is, and the two six-core models are more of a premium product. It’s understandable that AMD would rather see those sell than less-expensive quad-cores that have the potential of becoming six-cores.

While there is a slight chance that the 960T still could come to fruition, I wouldn’t personally put too much faith into it.