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AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Review: The New Six-Core Flagship

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Test Systems And Benchmarks

We’re concentrating on the new Phenom II X6 1100T flagship in our benchmarks. While the Athlon II X3 455 and Phenom II X2 565 are interesting processors, the 100 MHz speed bump probably won’t show much of an improvement over previous tests that we’ve performed. We are interested in seeing if the new top-of-the-line model can be overclocked higher than the 1090T, though. To this end, we've equipped our test bed with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler.

We’re including the Phenom II X6 1090T and 1075T for comparison purposes. The Phenom II X4 970 and Core i5-750 are also present to represent similarly-priced quad-core performance. Finally, the Core i7-920 shows what the starting point of Intel’s more expensive high-end offerings can accomplish.

Take note that the Core i7-920 sample we have on hand is an engineering sample with a lower memory multiplier than the retail version. This will hurt the Core i7-920 in some memory-dependent tests, but for the most part performance should remain comparable to the commercially-available processor.

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Test SystemsHeader Cell - Column 1
Row 0 - Cell 0 AMD System AAMD System BIntel LGA 1156 SystemIntel LGA 1366 System
MotherboardGigabyte MA790XT-UD4P Socket AM3, AMD 790X, BIOS F8GAsus M4A785TD-V EVO Socket AM3, AMD 785G, BIOS 0410Asus P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156, Intel P55, BIOS 1003Gigabyte X58A-UD3R LGA 1366, Intel X58, BIOS version FA
ProcessorPhenom II X6 1100T  3.3 GHz (3.7 GHz Max Turbo)Hexa-Core, 6 MB L3 CachePhenom II X6 1090T  3.2 GHz (3.6 GHz Max Turbo)Hexa-Core, 6 MB L3 CachePhenom II X6 1075T  3.0 GHz (3.5 GHz Max Turbo)Hexa-Core, 6 MB L3 CachePhenom II X4 970 3.5 GHz, Quad-Core6 MB L3 CacheIntel Core i5-750  2.66 GHz (3.2 GHz Max Turbo)Quad-Core, 8 MB L3 CacheIntel Pentium G6950 2.66 GHz, Quad-Core3 MB L3 CacheIntel Core i7-920 2.67 GHz (2.93 GHz Max Turbo)Quad-Core (8 Threads with Hyper-Threading)8 MB L3 Cache
CPU CoolerCooler Master Hyper 212 PlusCooler Master Hyper TX3ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120
MemoryCrucial DDR3-1333 Dual-Channel 2 x 2048 MB, 669 MHz, CAS 9-9-9-24-1TMushkin PC3-10700H  Triple-Channel 3 x 2048 MB, 540 MHz, CL 8-8-8-20-1T
GraphicsMSI GeForce GTX 470 1280 MB GDDR5-3348, 607/1215 MHz GPU/Shaders, 837 MHz Mem.
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 640 GB 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache SATA 3Gb/s
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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Ultra-High Quality, No AA, 1280x1024
DiRT 2In-game benchmarkUltra Quality Preset, 8x AA, 1280x1024
StarCraft 2Custom Tom's Hardware BenchmarkMedium Quality Preset, No AA, 1280x1024
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion: 9.0.2.25 x64Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 minDefault format AAC
HandBrake 0.9.4Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob filefrom "The Last Samurai" (1 GB) to .mp4 High Profile
TMPGEnc 4.0 ExpressVersion: 4.7.3.292Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes)Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.9.1Encoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.2Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s) Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64-bit)Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF ImageRadial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
7-ZipVersion 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32 KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.01, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Memories, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
TOPICS
99 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Mark Heath
    I wish Intel would do something like this for all (or at least most) of their processors.(the speed bumps with same price model)
    Reply
  • fstrthnu
    A pretty good effort from AMD, but Sandy Bridge is only 2 or 3 months away by now. Of course, this is just a stopgap measure till Bulldozer comes; still, when AMD is only just catching up to Intel in terms of stock performance NOW (even though it has slightly better value)...
    Reply
  • sideshowbob32
    Great article I just ordered a 1090T for m old am2+ set up, I look forward to it and this article makes me want it more!! Glad to see amd is doing great.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    im gonna wait for bulldozer
    Reply
  • stingstang
    AMD is most certainly not doing great if they have to rerelease all their chips. Here's what happens: They make a batch of chips and sell them all as 4 core processors at X speed. The ones they don't sell or are returned go into stress testing. Those batches are divided in to x2 or x3 piles depending on how stable they are with which cores enabled. The winners of the tests get promoted and branded as new, faster chips with x+100 MHz. The process then repeats.
    Now if you'll look, their third iteration of this process still doesn't match intel's entry-level i7 processors. It's just embarrassing is what that is.
    Reply
  • Could this be any more unremarkable or unnecessary a product? Might as well grab an i5, or one of the existing X6s, or wait for SB, or Bulldozer... this is just pointless.
    Reply
  • buzznut
    I'm waiting as well I think. I'd have to upgrade my mobo to run a X6 anyway since Biostar chose not to support it with my current board. I think the 1090T is a great value at $230 though. Pretty sweet.
    Reply
  • sudeshc
    thats more like it, increase those stock speeds and the we will have more chance to to get even more performance by overclocking :D
    Reply
  • FunSurfer
    It would be nice to see in the gaming benchmark games that have intensive use of all the CPU's cores like GTA4, BFBC2, RFG (@ large building destruction).
    Reply
  • dEAne
    With this data Sandy Bridge will not put pressure on AMD it will kill it. I think the only thing left for AMD is to lower the price much further.
    Reply