IntroductionThe Tweeking Device 2 (or TD2) is a simple, reliable, and cost effective way to overclock your AMD Athlon classic processor! The TD2 is one of the best Gold Finger Overclocking devices we have had the pleasure of reviewing here at TweakTown. The TD2 is manufactured by Innovatek in Germany, this is why (I think) Tweeking is spelt the way it is instead of Tweaking - hehe. The main thing which stands out about this card is there are NO power connectors, instead the card uses the power of the AMD Golden Fingers connector itself. There is no better reference source for voltage for the Athlon than the Athlon itself, eliminating the risk of potential damage to the CPU. This also means your system doesn’t have to devote an extra power supply connector to the device, and there is no worry of the power cable being too short to reach, or getting in a there’d way and decreasing air flow. I found this great as I found it annoying having a power lead connecting up to the Free Speed Pro like we tested a few weeks ago, the power lead looked ugly and lowered the air flow of the case - this is NOT the case with the TD2!
Dip SwitchesWhat also makes the TD2 special is that it only uses 8 dip switches to control the voltage and multiplier settings, which is four less than any other GFD on the market according to High Speed PC - The suppliers of our TD2. There are four switches for the multiplier and four for the voltage. The adjustment of the CPU frequency is from 300 to 1050 MHz in 50 MHz steps. Adjustment of the core voltage is from 1.3V to 2.05V in 0.5V steps, a double sidded instruction sheet is included in the kit to show you the dipswitch settings in full, this is indeed a welcome addition. The switches themselves are easy to change, each switch has positive (+), neutral (o), and negative (-) settings. I found that it was harder (more force needed) to change the switches on the TD2 compared to the Free Speed Pro, nothing to really worry about though I might add.
SizeThe TD2 is the smallest GFD we have ever tested and seen for that matter. The actual size is 1.25" x 1.37". According to High Speed PC, "This should answer all questions about it being able to fit in your case". This is good news for those of you that had worrying thoughts about GFD’s not being able to fit inside your case properly. Below is a couple pictures to demonstrate the size comparison of the TD2 compared to a Intel Pentium III Coppermine and Free Speed Pro...
Usually in the computing world, bigger is better, in this case smaller is better. As you can see above the TD2 is MUCH smaller than the Free Speed Pro and Pentium III for that matter! There are a couple advantages to having a small GFD. The first is not taking up as much room inside your case, thus allowing for better air flow. The second is not having to use as much power to operate the device. Even though the AMD Athlon classic processor has more then enough power to supply to the TD2, I guess less is better when we are talking about power consumption.
