Retro overclocking: pushing two AMD Athlon II X2 260 (C3) chips on AM2+

In my previous piece on overclocking the AMD Athlon II X3 440, I noted that C2 stepping AMD processors based on the K10.5 architecture aren't the best choice for overclockers. However, overclocking is always a lottery; even with a C3 stepping chip, you might still draw a "dud."

With that in mind, I decided to dedicate this article to overclocking two AMD Athlon II X2 260 processors simultaneously. Both test samples are C3 stepping, but one was manufactured in Taiwan and the other in Malaysia. Let's find out if these "Taiwanese" and "Malaysian" chips can hit that psychological 4000 MHz barrier.

Welcome to the final "Retro Overclocking" article from our May benchmark session (at least until we get more AM2+/AM3 CPUs). Let's start with a look at the test CPUs:

The processors

The first sample's marking is ADX2600CK23GM WAEKC AE 1209SSN. This indicates the chip was produced in week 9 of 2012 in Taiwan, and its die is based on the latest C3 revision.

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

The second sample's marking is quite different: ADX2600CK23GM WAEGC AE 1041GPMW. This processor also uses the C3 stepping, but it was manufactured in Malaysia in week 43 of 2010 – making this chip significantly older than the previous one.

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

There's a slight chance the older processor might boast better overclocking potential, but that isn't always borne out by the facts.

CPU-Z readings for both samples are 100% identical (even the VID), so to avoid cluttering the article, I'm only providing data for the first sample:

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

Both AMD Athlon II X2 260 processors are built on a 45nm process, run at a base clock of 3200 MHz, and feature 1 MB of L2 cache per core. This means we're looking at a Regor die, with nothing to unlock since it's natively dual-core.

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

The aging AM2+ platform imposes its limitations; the CPU's memory controller operates at a reduced 1600 MHz, with DDR2 RAM running at 800 MHz.

As usual, I benchmarked the processors at stock frequencies using the CPU-Z utility:

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

Followed by Cinebench R11.5 and Cinebench R15:

The dual-core processors' results are quite dismal: 1.63 points in Cinebench R11.5 and 131 in Cinebench R15. Now it's time to overclock these chips, see how much performance improves, and, more importantly, whether they can even catch up to a stock Athlon II X3 440.

Test bench

• Motherboard — ASUS M2N-E

• Processors — two Athlon II X2 260 samples (rev. C3)

• CPU cooler — Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

• RAM — 1GB DDR2 SK Hynix HYMP512U64CP8-S5

• Graphics card — ZOTAC GeForce GTX 760 AMP!

• Storage — KINGSTON 120GB SA400S37120G

• Power supply — Chieftec GPS-1250C

• Operating system — Windows 10 with the latest updates as of May 2020

Overclocking the Athlon II X2 260 (WAEKC AE 1209SSN, TAIWAN)

True to form, I started exploring the first sample's overclocking potential with standard settings: 1.550 volts on the core, a one-point reduction in the HyperTransport bus multiplier, RAM frequency set to 667 MHz, and FSB at 251 MHz. But trying to POST with these settings caused the processor to freeze solid — a worrying sign. If the "chip" can't even boot with these settings, 4 GHz is completely out of the question.

From there, I took fairly straightforward steps, methodically lowering the system bus frequency. At 246 MHz, I finally managed to boot into the OS, but the CPU crashed as soon as I launched the AIDA64 stress test.

This was, to put it mildly, a weak showing — the Taiwanese chip certainly didn't impress me. Frankly, I was irritated and a bit bewildered by such low potential. Still, I continued my experiments: after each crash in the stress test, I dropped the system bus frequency by one step. After several hours, I finally managed to dial in a stable 3870 MHz:

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

While 3870 MHz isn't an utterly dismal overclock for a dual-core Athlon II X2, I've often encountered samples capable of stable 4000 MHz operation in my experience. It's not the end of the world, though. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for a chip released in 2009. But I have big plans for the second sample.

Below are the overclocking settings for the Athlon II X2 260 (WAEKC AE 1209SSN, TAIWAN) processor on the ASUS M2N-E motherboard:

Overclocking the Athlon II X2 260 (WAEGC AE 1041GPMW, MALAYSIA)

And the "Malaysian" chip truly pleased me at first. Even better, it inspired hope, easily booting and even loading the system at the test settings (HT x3, DDR2 667, FSB 250, vCore 1.550) and 4000 MHz. However, 15 minutes into the stress test, the system rebooted.

Unfortunately, this sample also couldn't breach the 4 GHz mark, but credit where it's due — it came incredibly close. By lowering the system bus frequency by just 1 MHz, I achieved stable operation at 3983 MHz:

⤢ ВІДКРИТИ

ASUS M2E-E motherboard settings for overclocking the Athlon II X2 260 (WAEGC AE 1041GPMW, MALAYSIA) processor:

The difference in overclocking potential between the two processors, manufactured in different countries, was just over 100 MHz. Is that significant? Frankly, no. And it's important to clarify that these results cannot be extrapolated to other Athlon II X2 260 samples manufactured in Taiwan or Malaysia. It's entirely possible another Taiwanese processor could hit 4000 MHz, while a different Malaysian one might not even reach 3800 MHz. For meaningful conclusions, you'd need a sample size of five to ten chips, not just one from each country.

Nevertheless, the overclocking results are in, so let's finally compare the benchmark scores:

CPU-Z:

Cinebench R11.5:

Cinebench R15:

Conclusion

Looking at the test results, it's clear that the primary performance boost came with the Taiwanese sample at 3870 MHz. The Malaysian chip's further frequency increase to 3983 MHz didn't yield a significant performance uplift. But we're not here to beef up a chip unusable in 2020; we're chasing maximum frequencies. And in that regard, the Malaysian-made Athlon II X2 260 sample was the undisputed leader. It outpaced its Taiwanese counterpart by 113 MHz and, moreover, came incredibly close to the coveted 4000 MHz.

By the way, Athlon II X2 processors currently retail for around $2 apiece. So, they're a solid recommendation for further overclocking experiments on AM2+ and AM3 platforms. If an overclock fails, the cost of a mistake is incredibly low, meaning you won't have to stress about a dead CPU.

Until next time, and happy overclocking!