The hexacore Phenom II X6 1100T may be getting all of the attention, but it isn't the only CPU in AMD's winter product refresh. The company is also introducing a pair of tweaked dual- and tri-core CPUs with slightly increased clock speeds.
First up is a new high-end dual-core chip that'll replace the Phenom II X2 560. The Black Edition X2 565 will get the benefit of a half-point multiplier increase, which translates to a 100MHz speed boost and a final frequency of 3.4GHz. Otherwise, the new chip is identical to its predecessor, including the 80W TDP, 6MB L3 cache and unlocked multi.
Joining the new Phenoms is the triple-core Athlon II X3 455. This 3.3GHz chip is a refresh of the older X3 450 and shares all of the its vital stats, bar the slightly higher stock frequency. Of course, being a part of the Athlon series means that the chip's multiplier is locked and there's no L3 cache on board.
AMD is clearly milking its older architecture for everything it's worth to tide it over until the release of the first Fusion desktop CPUs next year. Nonetheless, a few more megahertz at the same price points are always a welcome addition.
Both chips should be available soon, with the X2 565 launching at $115 (£90 inc VAT) and the X3 455 launching at $87 (£68 inc VAT). The latter is already available to pre-order at a number of e-tailers - including Scan and Ebuyer - for around £70 and although it hasn't shown up yet, we'd expect the X2 565 to appear closer to the £80 mark given the pricing of the current Phenom dual-cores.
