Ubuntu

Does anyone know at which kernel version support for Phenom II x6 first appeared?

Is a specific 'Phenom' option even needed? The AMD64 platform has had native multiprocessing from the first, be it multiple chips, multiple cores, or both.

Was told on a Linux forum that if I want to upgrade to Phenom II X6 I'd also have to upgrade the OS to a release using at least kernel 2.6.30, as my Ubuntu 9.04 could not handle it. Just checking to make sure the info is legit!

2.6.30 is a very old kernel kernel by now, and 9.04 a very old Ubuntu. I suspect the processor would be the least of your problems in trying to run a new board on such an old kernel -- a variety of drivers would likely be missing or broken.

There are no Phenom-related options in my much newer kernel. As I suspected it must still all go under the Opteron family. Perhaps there's some specific driver or bug they had in mind when they said 2.6.30.

Well, not sure I'm understanding what you are saying. I'm not planning to upgrade my motherboard. Ahh, let's start over. My Phenom X4 is working quite well with both my operating systems (Debian 5.0 & Ubuntu 9.04), so I have no great need to upgrade my CPU, but I have an opportunity to buy couple of new Phenom II X6 processors at bargain price. Was told on another forum that neither the Debian 5.0 nor Ubuntu 9.04 could handle Phenom II X6 due to some lack of support, bug in the kernel, or whatever. True or false?

Oh, I see.

this is a bit more illuminating. It also presents a possible workaround.

Thanks for the link! Any idea of potential downsides to blacklisting "powernowK8" or "cpuspeed"?