▷ What is a pata negra processor

How many times have we read a user say that their processor is a black leg, this is something that is usually very common among the most enthusiastic users, but that may seem strange to the less experienced.

In this article we explain what a black leg processor is and what all this means. Let's start!

Understanding the black leg processor concept

To understand what a black leg processor is, we have to understand another concept first, it is what is known as “the silicon lottery”. This has nothing to do with the Christmas giveaway, but with the manufacturing process for all silicon-based chips. The process of manufacturing a processor is something very complex, involving many machines and many stages. This makes the process never go perfect.

We recommend reading our article on AMD Ryzen - The best processors manufactured by AMD

The chips are made on silicon wafers as pure as possible, although perfect purity is impossible to achieve. Due to unavoidable impurities in silicon, and failures in the manufacturing process, not all chips made from the same wafer have the same quality. Some chips will have more design imperfections, and will need more voltage to function.

By contrast, other chips, generally those made in the center of the silicon wafer, will have fewer blemishes and would require less voltage to operate. This results in these processors being able to achieve higher clock speeds and less heat. These processors are the black leg, and are the ones used to break overclock records.

However, both Intel and AMD sell their processors with specifications that ensure that they all work correctly. The only difference is that the black legs will use less voltage and will heat up a little less. It is when it comes to overclocking where there are differences, since the black legs can go further.

For example, a Core i7 8700K processor for black can go as high as 5.2 GHz without getting too hot, while a non-black-leg chip is likely to top at around 4.9-5 GHz. These figures are approximate, but they give us an idea of ​​where the shots are going.

We recommend reading our guide to the best processors on the market

Remember that you can leave a comment if you have any questions about what a black leg processor is. What has been the processor that has overclocked you best? We wait for your answer! We invite you to take a tour of our hardware forum.