Although AMD and Intel probably won't release their 1GHz CPUs until the second half of 2000, KryoTech took an AMD Athlon 750MHz CPU and, by using their vapor-phase refrigeration technology, managed to release reliable PC's running at 1GHz. Truly a great achievement, no matter which end of the telescope you're looking from. Getting a $2,500 bare-bones (meaning a case, motherboard and CPU) system into the mainstream has proved difficult for KryoTech, which is where SYS Technology, Inc. and their Cold-Fusion PC series comes in...

Whilst SYS Technology, Inc. (SYS) isn't as well known as Dell or Gateway, they've been selling systems for over 12 years now. Their 'Cold-Fusion' series of PCs is based upon KryoTech's 'Cool Athlon XXX' and 'SuperG' barebones systems and aimed at gaming enthusiasts and workstation folks alike. SYS takes the SuperG as an OEM and 'converts' it into a fully-fledged and ready to use PC. The Cold-Fusion series ranges from 800MHz all the way up to the 1GHz mark. With AMD releasing the Athlon 800MHz CPU this week, it's the 1GHz mark that we were, quite naturally, interested in.

As good as 'conventional' (by conventional I mean without the use of vapor-phase refrigeration) overclocking is, the likelihood of any end user being able to overclock an AMD Athlon 750 to 1GHz is slim, verging on nil. Enter KryoTech, a company based in the 'hot' south, and their patented vapor-phase refrigeration used to 'chill' CPUs down to levels so low that overclocking to insanely high speeds becomes a real possibility.