The Thuban Phenom II X6 is the CPU in the Leo Platform which also includes the AMD 890 chipset and the Radeon HD 5800 series graphics.

AMD implemented this to address the mishandling of threads by Windows Vista, which can cause single-threaded applications to run on a core that idles at half its clock rate.

Due to the nature of this feature, it reduces the effectiveness of overclocking the CPU and RAM, but also decreases power consumption and heat output.

[citation needed] The dual-spec memory controller also gives motherboard manufacturers and system builders the option of pairing AM3 with DDR2, as compared to competing chips from Intel which require DDR3.

"Thuban" and "Zosma" Phenom II processors support AMD's Turbo Core overclocking performance-boost technology.

This issue is not resolvable via a BIOS update; however, users of AM2 and AM2+ motherboards can still use Phenom II processors excluding the 125 Watt variants.

[1] Some versions of the Phenom II X2 and X3 have one or two cores "deactivated" to enable AMD to target the lower end of its market.

[12][13] In a public demonstration of the Phenom II's overclocking potential at CES 2009 in Las Vegas on 10 January 2009, Sami "Macci" Mäkinen (a record-breaking overclocker) used a Phenom II X4 940 and a DFI LANParty 790FXB-M2RS with a combination of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium cooling to take the processor to a clock rate of 6.5 GHz and succeeded in beating the world record 3DMark 2005 score with a total of 45474.

[14][15] A group named LimitTeam successfully overclocked AMD’s Deneb 45 nm Phenom II X4 955 processor (Black Edition) on April 30, 2009, and submitted the results for validation to CPU-Z.