Power Consumption
At idle, all of our Phenom IIs clock down to 800 MHz and employ similar voltage levels, so it’s no surprise to see them consume 160W each. The overclocked X4 965 Also scales back to 800 MHz, but because its voltage is manually keyed in at 1.5V, it uses significantly more power at idle.
The Core 2 Quad Q9550’s result isn’t really comparable, since we’ve been using the chip’s performance to indicate the speed of Intel’s 95W $220 CPU, and not the 65W $350 part shown here. Nevertheless, it’s interesting that Intel’s low-power part only barely beats AMD’s 130W Phenom IIs at idle. In comparison, the Core i7-920 consumes an extra 26W at idle (though to put the cost of that power into perspective, check out Don Woligroski’s analysis in How Many CPU Cores Do You Need?).
The field is separated more decisively with a full load applied to each processor (Prime95) and GPU (FurMark).
At 1.5V, the overclocked Phenom II X4 965 is the least power-friendly option—such is the price you pay for pushing these CPUs as far as possible on air. Intel’s Core i7-920 places in between the new 965 and its predecessor, the 955. Most surprising, perhaps, is the Phenom II X3 720, which uses more power than the quad-core Phenom II X4 955. And again, we see the reason Intel charges an extra $130 for its ‘S-class’ 65W chips, as the Core 2 Quad Q9550S ducks in with the lowest consumption results.
Related Stories :
- AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE: Same Speed, Less Power
- AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Review
- Meet Zosma: AMD's Quad-Core Phenom II X4 960T Gets Unlocked
- AMD's Phenom II X4 TWKR: We Give It The LN2 Treatment
- DDR3 Memory Scaling On AMD's Phenom II X4
- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Overclocked to 7.1 GHz
- Phenom II X4 955: AMD's Dragon Platform Evolves
- AMD's 3.2 GHz Phenom II X4 955 Dated
- AMD 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 Coming in April
- Phenom II X4 3.6GHz and RV740 This Year?
Hmmm...i hope the rest of the OC better. I also hope that AMD won't have to price cut too much to compete with i5. Either way, AMD really needs something new and fast....Hopefully they'll do well with the dx11 cards.
ugh... i want to love AMD but I'm not sure this cuts it. I mean, if you get an AMD Phenom II 955 and the 965, they're completely identical except for multiplier. And you can get both processors to 3.8Ghz most of the time. So really whats new???? The 965 has just got a faster stock frequency. But anybody who buys a 955 or 965 is prolly an enthusiast that will end up OCing them to ~3.8Ghz. So just go for the cheaper 955. The 965 sounds like AMD is trying to make something "new", but it's just another Phenom II 45nm chip w/ the same 6mb cache, etc. They need to release a new line for these up coming Intel chips.
Excellent timing, i was just wondering when i was going to see a performance review for the new 965. Though i would like to see a benchmark comparing the overclocking potential of the 955 to the 965, im curious if its just a higher binned processor or the same one just clocked higher.
I better pick up the 955 BE before they are all gone. Doesn't seem like the 965 has any advantage other than the stock clock, and of course I don't plan on leaving it at stock
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Good article! Judging from what AMD did with 65nm Phenom, they would perhaps release 125W version in early 2010. However, that's pure projection. I will probably get this one and wait for AMD 32nm. Somebody got to support the underdog. Unfortunately, this is the same situation AMD faced during mid 2006 all over again. Intel 32nm is going to be awesome, and it seems that AMD is going to be left without an answer in H1 2010 until they can upgrade production for 32nm.
but that Q9550 can overclock well, to the level of the phenom II 965 here and beyond, and clock for clock it is faster than phenom II.
Can't wait for a AM3 vs LGA 1156 battle soon!
AMD has a looong way to go.
Will this run on an old AsuS Crosshair NV590A-SLI motherboard? I surely do hope so...
Pleasant surprise. I love you AMD!
wow, those are some pretty ordinary results for AMD.
AMD got rox0red by Intel.
Why_Me
In what?
Games, your everiday programs? I think not.
Your useless synthetic benchs? As it would matter...
Actually the prices on street are:
PII 945 95w $169
PII 955 125w $199
*newegg
intel fanboism, dont like it
Why_Me
In what?
Games, your everiday programs? I think not.
Your useless synthetic benchs? As it would matter...
Actually the prices on street are:
PII 945 95w $169
PII 955 125w $199
*newegg
I'l explain my comment. The i7 920 can easily be over clocked to 4.0GHz or better (air cooling)...especially with these new D0 stepping i7 920's that are commonly hitting 4.4GHz on air cooling. The i7 in the review was run at stock speed. Down below is an i7 920 OEM that goes for $251.88 w/the promo code. Over clock the 17 920 and it destroy's that AMD 955 even more so than what was showed in that review. AMD is moving backwards, not forward.
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920 $271.88 Free Ground Shipping
$20 off with Code MINIPICO20 Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM
Where did this thing come from?
I must be out of the loop.
Not bad,I guess but it is only closing the gap between the Phenom chips and the i7 920 in minute levels.
I want to see AMD bitch slap intel like they did during the 2003-2006 era.
You have your years mixed up. AMD was owning Intel way before 2003, and it came to an end in 2004 when Intel came out the the core2duo. Since then Intel hasn't looked back.
Would anyone buy this over the i7? Not seeing any reason why
core2duo was released in 2006.
The AMD owning saga started in 2000 with the Athlons. A bit more performance at same mhz but for less price. The only con was the lack of quality mobos.
C2D came out in late August 2006