Interview
with Kryotech's Kathy Hemby
Who hasn't heard of Kryotech?
Certainly not you because if you had no idea who they were you wouldn't bother
to read this interview =) . Here's a little refresher. Kryotech is the company
that super cools CPU's to "Thermally accelerate them". This may
sound like overclocking but according to them it isn't. Tomatoes Tomatoes.
They became famous because of their super cooled AMD k6-3 500 MHz which was
the fastest business machine for a while. Now they have come back with a vengeance
with an accelerated Athlon 800Mhz and soon an Athlon at 1GHz (for the Mathematically
impaired that's 1000Mhz).
Target PC : What will be the initial price of the Super-G?
Kryotech : We have not yet set a price for the SuperG.
Target PC : Why the delay from the initial announcement and then going
to 800 MHz?
Kryotech : If you mean the delay between the announcement of the SuperG
demonstration at the end of April and the release of the 800, then the answer
is we showed a prototype SuperG system and the processors are not yet available.
The delay between the announcement of accepting pre-orders and shipping the
Cool Athlon 800 was mainly caused by the wait for motherboards.
Target PC : What percent of the Athlon's you receive make it
to 800Mhz or the coveted Gigahertz?
Kryotech : By applying KryoTech?s –40 cooling technology
we can reliably get a 28-35% increase in processor speed completely independent
of margin on the processor.
Target PC : Why -40 ?
Kryotech : -40 degrees (C or F, it does not matter because they
cross at -40) allows KryoTech to provide the customer a 33% clock speed improvement
without undue expense or risk. KryoTech keeps cost down and reliability up
by using proven vapor compressors from the refrigeration industry. These compressors
are certified with gas mixtures that support cooling to around the -40 degree
level. Another reason to introduce the technology at -40 is that the electronic
packaging technologies, printed circuit boards, solder joints, chip packages,
etc., are known to work reliably at that temperature.
Target PC : Do you have condensate problems around your Kryocavity?
Kryotech : Not at all. KryoTech has gone to great lengths to prevent
condensation including insulation and the use of microheaters similar to those
used in a frost-free fridge.
Target PC : Will you have plans to introduce the upcoming PIII coppermine
.18 to your product line , if they could perform better than the athlons ?
Kryotech : AMD considers us a strategic partner and provides us a great
deal of support both during and after the R&D process. They extend their
processor warranty to us even after we have thermally accelerated the chips.
While we have a good relationship with Intel?s technology group, they are
not prepared to offer us the support AMD does. We have made a business decision
to offer only –40 systems with the full support and partnership of the
CPU provider. We feel this choice ensures our customers get the kind of product
quality and product support they expect and deserve.
Target PC : What Percentage of Athlons go higher than 800 mhz ?
Kryotech : The 600MHz processors reliably reach 800MHz. We do
not individually test processors for the maximum speed achievable. Some processors
probably have more margin than others. We know you will have a stable system
at 800MHz, and screening every chip we get to see if it will go just a little
faster is not feasible in a manufacturing setting.
Target PC : Does AMD hand pick your CPUs?
Kryotech : No, KryoTech uses standard production chips. Our cooling
technology, not screened processors, allows us to achieve the speeds we provide.
Target PC : Any plans on a new Tower design in the future ?
Kryotech : The SuperG will be housed in a larger case than the
current one we use, however, it still will not be quite a full tower case.
Target PC : Are you planing to sell complete systems in the near future
?
Kryotech : No, KryoTech relies on our reseller partners to fully
outfit systems. Our focus is cool computing.
Target PC : Any upcoming news for our readers ?
Kryotech : We are scheduled to release a dual Athlon KryoCooled system
in late Q1 or early Q2 2000. Each processor will run at least 1GHz.
Target PC : What motherboard are you going to use in your Super G?
Kryotech : This has not yet been determined. We will look at all of
the available SlotA boards at the time of the SuperG?s release and choose
the one which best fits our system requirements.
Target PC : With the earth quake in Taiwan what effects will you
be feeling?
Kryotech : We anticipate delays and possible price increases as a result
of the earthquake in Taiwan.
Target PC : What kind of Price drops can we expect on the 800mhz
system with the release of faster AMD chips and the Super G?
Kryotech : We just announced a price reduction on the 800 from
$2200 to $2000 on the barebones configuration.
Target PC : Are you going to continue Thermally Acceleration Alpha
chips with their current financial instability and if so to what speeds?
Kryotech : We are currently focusing our efforts on the acceleration
of the Athlon processors, but have not ruled our working with the Alpha chips
in the future.
