Six New Phenom II And Athlon II CPUs From AMD

Six New CPUs From AMD

This is the third time this year that AMD has provided a 100 MHz speed bump across the Athlon II line, while lowering prices on existing SKUs and selling the new processors at the same price as the previous flagship models. A 100 MHz speed bump is hard to get excited about, but a 300 MHz boost across the whole Athlon II portfolio over a year--with decreased pricing--is a respectable increase overall.

This time things are a little different, as the Phenom II lineup is also involved. The new dual- and quad-core models get the same 100 MHz bump we’ve seen before. But there’s also a new hexa-core model that sports a 200 MHz increase over the existing Phenom II X6 1055T.

All of these processors are built on the same 45 nm process and architecture that AMD has relied on since the Phenom II and Athlon II CPUs were introduced, so we don’t expect any miracles. We’ll probably see the same overclocking headroom to which we're accustomed from AMD’s existing models. Instead, we’ll have to wait for the new Fusion-based CPUs, slated for 32 nm manufacturing, to get a processor from the company to change that expectation. Of course, sometimes, a new processor revision increases overclocking headroom a little. We test this in the benchmarks below.

Phenom II X6 1075T

The new hexa-core Phenom II X6 1075T fills the gap between the ~$200 Phenom II X6 1055T and the ~$310 Phenom II X6 1090T. The new Phenom II X6 1075T costs $245 and is also priced between Intel’s Core i5-760 and the Core i7 models.

This chip sports a 3.0 GHz base clock speed and can operate as fast as 3.5 GHz in Turbo CORE mode. It's interesting that the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor offers a 200 MHz gain over the new Phenom II X6 1075T's base clock, but only a 100 MHz higher maximum turbo clock. This is likely due to the limitations of squeezing the processor within the same 125 W power envelope.

Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition

It’s been a little over a year since the introduction of AMD’s Phenom II X4 965, a CPU that relinquished its flagship billing with the introduction of the Phenom II X6.

We’re a little disappointed that we’ve waited this long for a mere 100 MHz increase to the Phenom II X4 line. But at $185, the new Phenom II X4 970 remains slightly cheaper than its Intel rival, the Core i5-750. Of course, as a Black Edition processor, the CPU multiplier remains unlocked for overclocking enthusiasts.

Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition

The new Phenom II X2 560 replaces the Phenom II X2 555 in much the same fashion that the Phenom II X2 555 replaced the Phenom II X2 550 in January of this year. Despite the slight 100 MHz increase to 3.3 GHz, the price point remains the same, at $105. The new model also sports an unlocked multiplier ratio. And like any dual-core Phenom II processor, there is a chance that the dormant CPU cores might be successfully enabled through the unlocking features included with some motherboards.

Athlon II X4 645

The new Athlon II X4 645 pushes budget quad-core performance 100 MHz over the 3.0 GHz level. At $122, it offers what seems like a solid combination of multi-threaded performance and a high clock speed.

Athlon II X3 450

At 3.2 GHz, the Athlon II X3 450 is no slouch. The triple-core threat has become our favorite sub-$100 gaming processor, and we’re fans of the new model’s $87 MSRP. With three processing cores, this CPU naturally handles multi-tasking much better than its dual-core competitors.

Athlon II X2 265

The Athlon II X2 260 is a dual-core CPU with a clock rate of 3.3 GHz, and is probably more powerful than what most productivity-based office users require. At $76, budget-constrained gamers and enthusiasts should instead spend the extra $10 on AMD's Athlon II X3 450. But the new dual-core option promises reasonable performance for basic budget PC users.