AMD has launched five new Phenom II CPUs, building on their launch last month of the Phenom II X4 940 at 3.0GHz and the Phenom II X4 920 at 2.8GHz.
Today sees the addition of the Phenom II X4 910 at 2.6GHz to the 900 series. The 800 series is similar to the 900 series, but reduces the shared L3 cache to just 4MB, or 1MB per core. The 700 series has just three cores, but retains the full 6MB of L3 cache, bringing it to 2MB per core.
The uncore, which is comprised of the memory controller and the L3 cache, receives a bump to 2.0GHz. All five of the new CPUs can be used in the new AM3 socket in order to access DDR3, or the older AM2+ socket in order to stay with cheaper DDR2. This versatility allows a user to upgrade their CPU on an AM2+ platform now, then upgrade to an AM3 platform later when DDR3 prices go down. The older Phenom two models are only AM2 CPUs, but AM3 versions are slated to be released in the near future.
Reviews and Quotes :
Guru 3d :
Quote:
You know the more we test Phenom II processors the more we seem to like them. AMD is fighting a stigma though. The one thing that is ghosting through everybody's mind has to be .. "what if Intel hadn't released Core i7 ?". Well, fact is .. that have released it. And surely it dominates the high-end segment, there's just no question about that. But we have stated it in our previous Phenom II article already, that is an expensive upgrade once you accumulate every component needed.
So I like to ask you to filter out Core i7 for a moment, and try to mentally place the price and performance of Phenom II X3 and X4 processors in the Core 2 Duo and Quad range. Then it all makes sense. This is where AMD is really competing with Phenom II. And in this product range they certainly are very strong.
If you build a modern PC with a high-end graphics card like a Radeon HD 4870 1024MB or the GeForce GTX 280 as used in this review, you have been able to notice that the difference amongst 145 to 200 USD processors is pretty small. The processors each deliver more than enough computational power for a nice gaming experience. The one processor that for me personally shined was, interestingly enough, the Phenom II X3, the 720 BE processor. I too have that weird stigma about having three cores instead of four, as much as you do. But the results didn't lie ... the X3 720BE is a very competitive Phenom II processor clocked at 2.8 GHz with that luxurious 6MB L3 cache. For roughly 145 USD you can get this BE edition and as such it will allow you to easily overclock it towards 3500-3800 MHz on the most cheap air-cooler one can think of. Again, this particular processor will be placed on the shelves for a only 145 USD and as such this really is an awesome deal.
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Review :
Anandtech :
Quote:
These new CPUs from AMD are good overclockers, good performers and they don't have any real drawbacks unlike their predecessors. The most interesting CPU is the Phenom II X3 720; at $145 its only Intel competitors are the Core 2 Duo E7500 and the Core 2 Duo E8400, both of which are dual-core CPUs.
The extra core in the 720 can provide a clear advantage in well threaded workloads, not to mention that it's got 1.5MB of L2 cache and 6MB of L3 cache at its disposal. In applications where the third core isn't very useful then the 720 loses its performance advantage, which I suspect will be the majority of mainstream workloads.
The DDR3 question is easily answered: wait. While DDR2 isn't an option for Core i7, on all other platforms it just makes sense simply because of the high cost of DDR3 right now.
By the end of the year we won't be having this debate as DDR2/DDR3 will be at the same price, but if you're building today don't even bother looking at DDR3 unless you're building Core i7. The performance benefits aren't worth it for Phenom II, so while AM3 sounds cool, it's not necessary today. Thankfully AM3 CPUs will work in AM2+ motherboards, so you aren't forced into a relationship with DDR3 if you're not ready.
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Review :
11-02-2009, 05:13 PM
Linear Mode
