AMD Phenom II X4 45nm Processors Reviewed

The new AMD Phenom II X4 processors have arrived. Initially, two models are available:

AMD Phenom II X4 920 at $236 (2.8 GHz)
AMD Phenom II X4 940 at $278 (3.0 GHz)

Features:

• Codename: Deneb
• Socket AM2+ - 940-pin organic micro Pin Grid Array (micro-PGA)
• L1 Cache (Instruction + Data): 128KB x4 (64KB + 64KB for each core)
• L2 Cache: 512KB x4 (quad-core); 512x3 (triple-core)
• L3 Cache: 6MB Shared L3
• 45-nanometer SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
• One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3600MT/s full duplex; or up to 14.4GB/s
• I/O Bandwidth
• Integrated DDR2 memory controller-up to 17.1GB/sec dual channel memory bandwidth PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066) ; PC2 6400 (DDR2-800); PC2 5300 (DDR2-667); PC2 4200 (DDR2-533); PC2 3200 (DDR2-400) DDR2 unbuffered

Guru3D was pleased with the Phenom II X4 processors, and gave them its 'Great Value' stamp of approval:

"AMD is back on track for sure. Now before we really dig into the conclusion, let's get one thing out of the way first. Make no mistake, AMD is still a step behind Intel. Intel recently introduced Core i7 and we've shown it throughout this review, among that processor series is the Core i7 920 processor, priced close to today's tested Phenom II X4 940. And again; make no mistake, the Intel Core i7 920 processor on average is simply faster. Especially in most desktop applications, hyper-threading kicks in hard for Core i7. It's however also a much more expensive upgrade." [Guru3D | AMD Phenom II X4 920 and 940]

Tom's Hardware gave it its seldom-granted Recommended Buy award:

"Compared to AMD's first quad-core processor, the Phenom, its Phenom II successor offers great improvements, particularly in the area of energy consumption. With all due respect to Intel and the performance milestones it has achieved, the Phenom II offers a better energy consumption profile than either the Core i7 or Core 2 Quad platforms. ... In the overall competition, where the first line of attack appears in the price segment between $250 and $400, the AMD Phenom II processors place smack in between the already fading Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, and the new Core i7 920 CPUs. Above all, a complete Core i7 system costs more than a Phenom II because that Intel configuration requires a high-end motherboard and triple-channel DDR3 memory." [Tom's Hardware | AMD Phenom II X4]

HotHardware gave the Phenom II X4 940 its Recommended stamp of approval:

"The new Phenom II X4 920 and 940 are easily the most powerful desktop processors released from AMD to date. They performed well throughout our entire battery of benchmark tests, besting AMD's previous flagship CPU, the Phenom X4 9950 virtually across the board. Unfortunately, the new Phenom II X4 920 and 940 could quite keep pace with Intel's Penryn-based Core 2 Quads or Nehalem-based Core i7s. The Phenom II X4 managed to pull ahead of the Q9400, Q9650, and i7 920 on a few instances, but overall Intel's platform was still faster. The gap has closed quite a bit, however." [HotHardware | AMD Phenom II X4 940]

AnandTech picks the Phenom II X4 940 over the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400:

"Compared to the Core 2 Quad Q9400, the Phenom II X4 940 is clearly the better pick. While it's not faster across the board, more often than not the 940 is equal to or faster than the Q9400. If Intel can drop the price of the Core 2 Quad Q9550 to the same price as the Phenom II X4 940 then the recommendation goes back to Intel. The Q9550 is generally faster than the 940, more overclockable at lower voltages, and a high enough default clock speed to keep you happy in the long run. ... If you have a Socket-AM2+ motherboard with BIOS support for Phenom II there's no question - Phenom II is the best upgrade path for you. If you are trying to build a new system from scratch, I'd suggest waiting for either the Socket-AM3 CPUs or see what Intel does with its pricing later this month." [AnandTech | AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920]

HardwareZone sees that the Phenom II can compete with the lesser Core i7 models:

"Once AMD frames the argument as a platform comparison, the Phenom II as part of the Dragon platform actually looks quite competitive with Intel's lesser Core i7 models. While the top Phenom II X4 940 is expected to retail for US$275, making it comparable in price to the Core i7-920, the cost of the motherboard and DDR3 memory pushes the Core i7 setup much higher. The Phenom II X4 920 meanwhile is at US$235. So you can either save some money for less performance or if you're willing to fork out a similar amount, upgrade the graphics, hard drive and even memory on the AMD setup to arrive at a similar or better performance level." [HardwareZone | AMD Phenom II]

X-bit Labs believes the new Phenom II X4 processors only bests the previous generation Phenom X4:

"However, all the changes in the AMD quad-core processor lineup seem significant enough only when compared against the previous generation Phenom X4, and not against their competitors. It took AMD way too long to switch to 45nm manufacturing technology and launch their Phenom II X4. They missed the window of opportunity and the launch of Phenom II X4 doesn't have the desired effect on the market. The new Phenom II X4 doesn't look too impressive against the background of contemporary Core 2 Quad and especially Core i7 CPUs. The results of our tests show that the top Phenom II X4 processors can only be worthy rivals to the Core 2 Quad CPUs from the "junior" Q8000 series. Unfortunately, Phenom II X4 cannot yet do better than that." [X-bit Labs | Phenom II X4]

ExtremeTech finds the Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition with a good price/performance ratio:

"Still, at its price, Phenom II is a reasonable alternative to Intel in most segments. We would generally avoid it for photo or video work, but for general productivity and gaming, it's a pretty cost effective answer to Intel. ... The bottom line is that AMD has finally caught up with Intel's last generation-sort of. So if you're looking to build a system that offers good price/performance and a relatively low entry cost, the AMD's Phenom II makes a fine choice. But if you want maximum performance, you'll want Core i7." [ExtremeTech | AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition]

PC Perspective sees the Phenom II to appeal to budget enthusiasts:

"Enthusiasts who lean towards AMD will have another toy to play with, and one they should have a good time hanging out with. The price is certainly right, and the base performance competes well with similarly priced Intel parts. We also have a good selection of motherboards that should appeal to the budget enthusiast, as well as higher end products that offer features comparable to high end Intel based boards for significantly less money. ... For the first 45 nm product out of the gates, AMD has at least executed on time and in a fairly efficient manner. I have not heard any rumors of major issues with the new design (eg. No TLB type errata), and the initial products are coming out at an aggressive clockspeed and thermal envelope." [PC Perspective | AMD Phenom II X4 940]

Comments on Overclocking:

"Value for money, that's what you need to remember, and the Dragon combo CPU/Mobo/GPU without doubt offers that. Also, and I just have to mention this, a pleasant surprise was the level of overclocking. If you make sure you have a decent cooler (we used the OCZ Vendetta 2 btw), it should be fairly easy to reach 3.7 - 3.8 GHz clock frequencies. Likely with decent water-cooling we'd end up at 4.0 GHz. So there's definitely some overclocking headroom as well. And most definitely more headroom to work with compared to the previous generation products." [Guru3D]

"With all of the information AMD has already revealed regarding the Phenom II's overclockability, we were eager to see what our particular chip could do. We didn't use any exotic cooling for our overclocking experiments, opting instead to see just how far the chip would go with a stock AMD PIB air cooler installed. With only a minor bump in voltage to 1.575v, we were able to take our particular CPU to almost 3.8GHz using the stock air cooler alone. That speed was achieved with an 18.5x multiplier and a 202MHz base clock; the components were installed in a basic mid-tower. The AMD Overdrive utility shown in the screenshot above did not report clock speeds correctly, but assuming thermal readings were correct (we don't think they were), the chip ran at about 50'C while overclocked." [HotHardware]

"The clocking situation improved greatly with our 940 once VCore rose to a final 1.52V. We actually hit 4GHz but needed 1.58V to do it. This resulted in a few crashes due to temperatures, but we also noticed our particular CPU sample just was not stable at 4GHz+ even with additional voltages and cooling. The results for the two Intel processors are simply superb in this particular test with the 9950BE managing a respectable 30% improvement in clock speeds, matching that of the Phemom II percentage wise." [AnandTech]

"With the expected greater overclocking headroom of the new Phenom II, one could find more enthusiasts jumping onto this platform. Taking the new chip by itself, despite its improvements over the original Phenom, it's not going to threaten the Core i7 directly performance-wise. Its greatest achievement is its reduced power consumption, especially when idle. Going to 45nm has been significant, not only in pushing up the clock speeds but also in lowering heat/power consumption. As we have seen, these excellent numbers have come from AMD's 125W Phenom II models. The upcoming 95W AM3 versions could feature more impressive power draw figures." [HardwareZone]

"So, new Phenom II X4 processors do have very good frequency potential: the top model overclocked by 26% with air cooling only. So, the new AMD processor seems to be quite fit for overclocking experiments. However, we would like to make sure that potential Phenom II X4 owners keep in mind: 3.8GHz frequency will not let a CPU on Stars (K10) microarchitecture work as fast as overclocked Core 2 Quad from the same price range could." [X-bit Labs]

"We initially ran into some pretty severe difficulties in overclocking the 940. ... When we set the BIOS memory settings to "Auto", which ran the memory at DDR2-800 speeds, we finally managed to push the model 940 to 3.5GHz with excellent stability, using the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64. With a more robust cooler and more voltage tweaking, we might have gone higher." [ExtremeTech]

"My results did not reach the 6 GHz heights that AMD showed off last month, but considering how poor of an overclocker I am, my results are quite respectable for air cooling and a minimal amount of effort. Using stock voltage I was able to take the Phenom II X4 940 to 3.5 GHz on air cooling. My final overclock was at 3.8 GHz with a voltage of 1.45v. This is pretty close to the 4 GHz mark that AMD says is quite achievable with a good portion of their parts on air cooling. Again, I am not the world's greatest overclocker and I am not a big fan of frying processors. 3.8 GHz with minimal effort is a nice accomplishment, and certainly the 3.5 GHz mark at stock voltage is probably the real winner here." [PC Perspective]

The bottom line is that the new AMD Phenom II X4 processors are not the "Core i7 killers" a lot of people hoped them to be. Despite that, the Phenom II, partnered with a 790GX chipset motherboards, prove to be a good budget enthusiast platform. Overclocking is more feasible with the Phenom II, when compared to the previous Phenom X4 processors, but the Core i7 processors are still easier to overclock.

If you need to build a new system now, going with the Phenom II platform would be the one with the best value. If not, it would be best to wait for the soon to arrive AM3 socket processors.

IceRocket : amd phenom ii x4 45nm am2+