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Review: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition: back with a bang

by Tarinder Sandhu on 23 April 2009, 05:00 3.65

Tags: Core i7 920, Phenom II X4 920, Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), AMD (NYSE:AMD), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qarxf

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The Table of Terror

The Table

Processors Cores Architecture Process Form factor Clock speed L2 cache (total) L3 cache Memory-controller speed (up to) Voltage TDP etailer pricing
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 4 K10 45nm AM3 3.2GHz 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.5V 125W £199*
AMD Phenom II X4 945 4 K10 45nm AM3 3.0GHz 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.5V 125W £179*
AMD Phenom II X4 910  4 K10 45nm AM3 2.6GHz 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.425V 95W N/A**
AMD Phenom II X4 810  4 K10 45nm AM3 2.6GHz 2MB 4MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.425V 95W £143
AMD Phenom II X4 805 4 K10 45nm AM3 2.5GHz 2MB 4MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.425V 95W N/A**
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 3 K10 45nm AM3 2.8GHz 1.5MB 6MB 2.0GHz 0.85-1.425V 95W £115
AMD Phenom II 710 3 K10 45nm AM3 2.6GHz 1.5MB 6MB 2.0GHz 0.875-1.425V 95W £105











AMD Phenom II 940 Black Edition 4 K10 45nm AM2+ 3.0GHz 2MB 6MB 1.8GHz+ 0.875-1.5V 125W £168
AMD Phenom II 920 4 K10 45nm AM2+ 2.8GHz 2MB 6MB 1.8GHz+ 0.875-1.5V 125W £151











AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition 4 K10 65nm AM2+ 2.6GHz 2MB 2MB 2.0GHz 1.05-1.3V 125W £128
AMD Phenom X4 9850 BE 4 K10 65nm AM2+ 2.5GHz 2MB 2MB 2.0GHz 1.05-1.3V 125W £128
AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition 2 K10 65nm AM2+ 2.7GHz 1MB 2MB 1.8GHz 1.2-1.25V 95W £67
AMD Athlon X2 7550  2 K10 65nm AM2+ 2.5GHz 1MB 2MB 1.8GHz 1.2-1.25V 95W £62











AMD Athlon X2 6400+  BE 2 K8 65nm AM2 3.2GHz 2MB N/A 1GHz 1.35-1.4V 125W £75
AMD Athlon X2 6000+ 2 K8 65nm AM2 3.1GHz 1MB N/A 1GHz 1.1-1.4V 89W £64

* estimated pricing
** available in tray only. No PIB models.

The table isn't exhaustive, of course but does cover the major performance processors that are currently available from AMD.

Analysis

AMD will take care not to admit it, but the 955 Black Edition is the chip that should have been launched with the rest of the AM3 gang in February. Its 3.20GHz clock-speed rights an egregious shortcoming in the AM3 line-up - a lack of frequency. As the table shows, AMD's bumped up the TDP to hit 3.0GHz-plus, and the Phenom II X4 945 is practically identical to the recently price-reduced Phenom II X4 940, save for AM3 support.

Given the movements in the Phenom II's pricing this week, we expect the X4 955 BE to come in at around £200, once the day-zero madness has abated. The X4 945 should, therefore, be around £20 cheaper. If these guesstimated prices turn out to be true, Intel's pre-emptive cuts may not be enough, but we'll let the benchmarks decide that.



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