AMD Adds FM1 CPUs Athlon II X4 638 and Athlon II X4 641

By Douglas Perry
published

AMD quietly released two additional socket FM1 CPUs that slot in between the Athlon II X4-651 and 631.

The new models 638 (2.7 GHz, 65W) and 641 (2.8 GHz, 100W) integrate 32nm Llano cores with inactive graphics units. AMD is selling both processors for a tray price of $81. In comparison, Intel's cheapest quad-core CPUs are the i5-2390T (2.7 GHz) and the i5-2400s (2.5 GHz) for $184. AMD is riding the value train as $81 buys at Intel just Pentium processors (G850 with two cores and 2.9 GHz for $75, for example).

AMD is offering Athlon II X4 processors also for socket AM3 at 45nm: the 645 (3.1 GHz, 95W, $102) and 640 (3.0 GHz, 95W, $98).

Douglas Perry
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • icemunk
    I would if it will be possible to activate the graphics cores on some of these units
    Reply
  • alvine
    go AMD
    Reply
  • billybobser
    Looks interesting, but the disparity between a quad AMD and a dual core Pentium means the Intel is the value leader in anything remotely consumerist.

    And if you're a professional, not a consumer, you'll need something pricier (maybe).

    Not to mention that FM1 without a graphics core is a particularly odd choice (although, the FM1 boards are very feature rich) given that you're limiting your options taking this route.

    My view, if one of these AMD quads could be clocked to compete with a bottom i3, it would be an interesting option.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    meh
    Reply
  • wiyosaya
    Interesting. At least they are trying to maintain a competitive stance in the CPU arena.
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    291630 said:
    Not to mention that FM1 without a graphics core is a particularly odd choice quotemsg]Agreed. The graphics core is likely the best part of the Llano processors. But other board manufacturers have found ways to unlock processor cores, maybe they can have boards that unlock the graphics cores.
    Reply
  • Sorry but Pentium G850 >>> Graphicsless Llano at any speed and any core count. Llano is the old CPU architecture and it is S-L-O-W.
    Reply
  • mcd023
    What I'm wondering is what kind of performance we'll see when the x86 Win8 tablets come out. So far, I'm eying something like the Samsung series 7 slate with a core i5 at 1.6GHz, but I wanna see the cpu/gpu/battery life in one of those.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    Im not sure, but if the Llano CPU is stronger than a normal Athlon 2, it should be a great budget buy. Sad to see AMD killing off the phenom 2 line.

    the thing i really dont understand is, why would AMD make a faster CPU, but also include deactivated graphics, thats undoubtably taking up space. Why not include some L3 cache and make it a budget phenom 2 on FM1? I may be talking jibberish, but I really want AMD to be competitive performance-wise in this area, because the new pentiums are pretty good
    Reply
  • rpgplayer
    I know they are in different chipsets, but naming the 2.8ghz the 641 and the 3.0ghz the 640 is kind of misleading.
    Reply