AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Introduction

We were quite surprised when AMD announces Socket AM3 interface a couple of months ago, along with processors that were slower than the Phenom II X4 940 BE, already available at that time for AM2+ platforms. Of course, the tri-core Phenom II X3 700 and the quad-core X4 800 series aren't slow or weak, but it still didn't feel great, especially in the benchmarks where they fell behind the AM2+ leader.

Yes, AMD has tried to focus on universality. You could buy any of the new low cost processors and install them on a new Socket AM3 motherboard or on an old Socket AM2+ platform with DDR2 memory. The more expensive DDR3 modules weren't well-suited to AMD's "budget" platforms, so the company deliberately kept silent about the importance of AM3 - at least at the time.

But the situation has changed a bit since then. Now the company has a new flagship processor that can be installed in socket AM3. There is also a new graphic solution Radeon HD 4890, which can enhance the overall performance of the Dragon platform. An updated version of the AMD Overdrive utility is in development and will now be released in iteration 3.0 and will presumably improve performance on platforms with DDR3 memory.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | A bit of history: Dragon yesterday and today

When AMD announced the Dragon platform in June of this year, it consisted of a Phenom II X4 processor, an ATI Radeon HD 4800 family graphics card, and an AMD 7 line chipset. But typically, AMD described the Dragon platform on a Phenom II X4 940 processor, with a Radeon HD graphics card. 4870 and a motherboard based on the 790GX chipset.

AMD claims that every component of the Dragon platform has changed in recent months. True, but not really. After all, the company's chipset line hasn't changed, and if we believe the plans, it won't happen until early 2010, when the 790FX will give way to the RD890/SB850. Believe it or not, the 790GX will slowly fade from the scene, and the performance market will pull the 790X/SB850 bundle. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

There are also new Phenom II X4 processors - now these are models up to the top 955 and 945 (the designation x55 means compatibility with Socket AM3 so that consumers can distinguish processors from 920/940). Support for Socket AM3, as you know, allows the platform to move from DDR2 to DDR3 memory. However, if we consider the new Dragon platform, the Radeon HD 4890 increases the price too much (on the international market it has dropped to $229, but in Russia prices are from 9.8 thousand rubles), and gaming performance compared to 4870 1GB increases by only about ten%. By the way, AMD began to supply "boxed" processors with an updated cooler, which turned out to be narrower and shorter than the previous model.

And, of course, the new version of the Overdrive utility should be noted. But we will return to it a little later. In the meantime, let's take a closer look at the new Phenom II X4 processors.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | New flagship

The latest top processor from AMD was released in January this year. It ran at 3GHz and combined an all-new (for AMD) 45nm process with a number of microarchitecture improvements, including a larger (and faster) L3 cache, Cool "n" Quiet 3.0 technology, and better branch prediction.

But, as we have already mentioned, the announcement of the new Socket AM3 platform a month later was accompanied by the announcement of processors for the mass market, although we are used to receiving top solutions in such cases.

However, we didn't have to wait long: AMD announced a new flagship for the Socket AM3 platform: Phenom II X4 955 at 3.2 GHz, equipped with the same 6 MB of shared L3 cache.

There is not much to add to this, since everything else was already known from the Phenom II line. However, remember that the processor has 64 KB of L1 data and instruction cache for each core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and, again, 6 MB of shared L3 cache. The 128-bit integrated DDR2/DDR3 memory controller (running at 2 GHz by default) uses a pair of 64-bit channels. If you install an X4 955 processor in an AM2+ motherboard, you will get speeds up to DDR2-1066. But if you switch to the AM3 platform, you can install DDR3-1333 memory, although at this frequency only one module per channel is allowed. And if AMD equipped the Phenom II X4 940 processors with an 1800 MHz HyperTransport channel, then the X4 955 accelerates this channel to 2 GHz - as in the case of other AM3 processors.

The nominal supply voltage of the processor is 0.875V-1.5 V, that is, at the level of Phenom II X4 940, so we were not surprised by the power consumption corresponding to the previous flagship. Yes, the new processor also has a thermal design package (TDP) of 125W.

Socket AM2/AM3 processors
Model	Frequency	L3 cache	Voltage	Model number	socket
Phenom II X4 955 BE	3.2 GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.5V	Tray: HDZ955FBK4DGI PIB: HDZ955FBGIBOX	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 945	3.0 GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.5V	Tray: HDX945FBK4DGI PIB: HDX945FBGIBOX	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 910	2.6GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.425 V	Tray: HDX910WFK4DGI	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 810	2.6GHz	4 MB	0.875-1.425 V	Tray: HDX810WFK4FGI PIB: HDX810WFGIBOX	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 805	2.5 GHz	4 MB	0.875-1.425 V	Tray: HDX805WFK4FGI	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X3 720 BE	2.8GHz	6 MB	0.850-1.425 V	Tray: HDZ720WFK3DGI PIB: HDZ720WFGIBOX	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X3 710	2.6GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.425 V	Tray: HDX710WFK3DGI PIB: HDX710WFGIBOX	AM3, AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 940 BE	3.0 GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.5V	Tray: HDZ940XCJ4DGI PIB: HDZ940XCGIBOX	AM2+, AM2
Phenom II X4 920	2.8GHz	6 MB	0.875-1.5V	Tray: HDX920XCJ4DGI PIB: HDX920XCGIBOX	AM2+, AM2

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | New Dragon Platform

We've talked about this before, but AMD has eschewed the concept of platforms in the past, preferring to focus only on processors. However, this approach was widely criticized, and Intel's strategy did have advantages, since the company offered its own processor, chipset, motherboard, network card, storage controller, etc., which corporate buyers appreciated. And system builders liked the fact that they get centralized support.

Today, AMD fully supports the platform strategy, and such a decision can only be welcomed. In fact, the company emphasizes its platforms so strongly that it's hard to believe that things were once very different. First came the Spider platform. AMD then introduced the Dragon platform. Today we received "Dragon Update".

However, marketing terminology is of little interest to us - the hardware component is much more important. The Dragon 1.0 platform consisted of the Phenom II, a Radeon HD 4800-series GPU, and a 7-series chipset. All of these components are still relevant today.

The update gave us a frequency boost of up to 200 MHz since the flagship processor runs at 3.2 GHz. Now it is possible to use DDR3 memory together with the new Socket AM3 processor interface. And the new video card ATI Radeon HD 4890 is also included. In addition, we note the appearance of a new "boxed" cooler, which has become a little smaller than the previous version.

Old cooler on the left, new cooler on the right.

How expensive are all these platform upgrades compared to AMD's original Dragon launch in January? The prices are very close. We originally calculated the CPU, motherboard, and memory bundle for about $450 ($275 for the X4 940, $130 for the inexpensive 790GX motherboard, and $50 for 4GB of DDR2 memory). Today, an updated platform can be bought for about the same price. The X4 955 will retail for $245 at the time of the announcement, but the money saved will "eat up" 4GB of DDR3 memory. We indicated prices for the international market; in Russia, check prices at price.ru or other similar sources.

It just so happened that in our tests we will use the more expensive Asus M4A79T Deluxe motherboard for $190 (7,000 rubles in Russia), which is based on the 790FX chipset, and not on the 790GX.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | DDR2 vs DDR3

In our original article, dedicated to the announcement of Socket AM3, we did not test the same processors in Socket AM3 and Socket AM2+ interfaces to evaluate the benefits of installing DDR3 memory (if any). Then we received many requests to make such a comparison from our readers, which we are doing in this review.

We tested the new Phenom II X4 955 processor (at 3.2 GHz) on an Asus M3A78-T motherboard using the 790GX chipset with Socket AM2+, running BIOS version 0903. 790FX with Socket AM3, with BIOS version 0902. The AM2+ platform was equipped with 4 GB (2 x2 GB) of memory based on fast Corsair DDR2-1066 modules with CAS 5-5-5 latencies. The AM3 system ran 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 memory based on Corsair DDR3-1600 modules (in DDR3-1333 mode) with 8-8-8 latencies.

The first benchmark test of SiSoftware Sandra 2009 with SP3 installed demonstrates the throughput advantage of DDR3 on the same processor. As we will see below, memory overclocking allows for even more net memory bandwidth. But for our purposes, we'll be comparing memory at the highest speeds officially supported by AMD's integrated memory controller.

Encoding applications are among the most demanding, and the DDR3 memory system in the Mainconcept application has come a little ahead. In any case, it's worth noting that at the moment it's not worth switching from DDR2 to DDR3 memory if you already have a Spider or Dragon platform. But, as DDR3 memory prices drop, enthusiasts or regular users looking to upgrade might be better off moving to new technology memory. As happened with DDR, the days of DDR2 will be numbered when AMD and Intel begin to fully support DDR3 on their platforms.

The iTunes test isn't as demanding as our other apps, but it's one that many users run on a regular basis. And the CD conversion was a second faster on the AM3 platform. The improvement is not so noticeable, but the trend is still visible.

The DivX and Xvid encoding tests benefit by three seconds when switching to DDR3 memory. Of course, the victory can hardly be called decisive. But we saw the same situation in 2000 when we switched to the new AMD 760 chipset with DDR memory support. The benefits may not be as tangible today, but you can expect the architecture to become more dependent on memory bandwidth as DDR3 becomes ubiquitous.

The good news is that 4 GB CAS 8 DDR3-1333 memory kits today cost about $70 (from 2500 rubles in Russia) - far below the terrible level when DDR3 memory just started to appear. But be aware that if you buy higher voltage modules, you may not be able to use them when you upgrade to a Core i7 system.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Overdrive 3.0

Part of AMD's "Dragon 2.0" platform relies on software support. Of course, Intel's hardware component of the platform is very strong - this is one of the cornerstones of the company. AMD entered the platform scene relatively recently, combining a processor, chipset and video card within a single platform. However, where Intel's position is weak is in the field of consumer software.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The AMD Overdrive utility has already been quite warmly received by enthusiast communities, who were somewhat tired of setting overclocking settings through the BIOS. Indeed, how long can you endure if you have to reboot every time to perform stability tests even after a small change in parameters? Overdrive offers many features to make the overclocker's job easier and faster. However, everything that could be done in earlier versions of Overdrive could be set through the BIOS, so the program was simply more convenient.

Overdrive was followed by the Fusion utility - it allows gamers to set up system profiles that can be turned on / off with a simple keystroke. For example, we can create an economical and quiet profile (with reduced frequencies and voltage) under Windows with all services running. If you need maximum system performance, for example, in the game Dawn of War II, then you can press the Fusion key, which disables background services that are not needed for the game, and also activates the last proven Overdrive overclocking settings. The only disappointment is that this feature requires the use of AMD Auto-Tune, and overclockers are unlikely to like such automatic overclocking - especially if you have a Black Edition processor with the ability to change the multiplier.

A new version of the Overdrive utility is currently being developed, namely 3.0. The most notable addition to new version- BEMP, i.e. Black Edition Memory Profiles. But apart from the name, BEMP has nothing to do with AMD Black Edition processors. And, in truth, BEMP can't do anything that an advanced user couldn't do in the BIOS. However, the feature simplifies memory configuration - similar to Intel XMP or Nvidia EPP technologies.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The BEMP function works very simply. In the Overdrive program (and compatible BIOSes on the AM3 motherboard), you click on "Preference" and then select "Online Update". Press the "Check" button and the configuration of your memory modules will be searched in the online database. If profiles are found there, the corresponding "Profile Information" fields will be filled in, and the "Update" button will appear, which will set the optimal clock frequencies, delays and voltage. Again, most enthusiasts already know how to tweak these settings. But BEMP can also automatically increase the voltage and frequency of the memory controller, increasing the effect of optimal memory settings, according to AMD's information.

Of course, all this interested us, so we took a memory kit with declared support for BEMP and ran tests.

At the time of publication, five memory kits from Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin and OCZ are supported. As you can see, the choice is small. And BEMP is generally not as significant as the ACC feature for the original Phenom (or Phenom II if you have a motherboard that allows unlock processors from the X3 700 or X4 800 series). In general, the function simply provides more convenience for those users who do not know how to set delays through the BIOS. But BEMP has a small side effect: if you have installed high-speed memory and not overclocked the memory controller (northbridge), then you will not get the full advantage of the DDR3 frequency. BEMP allows you to both switch the memory to maximum performance mode and overclock the memory controller / northbridge with one key. And in this regard, the function can be considered very useful.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

In addition, the list of improvements to the Overdrive 3.0 utility includes the Smart Profiles feature, which provides for manual tuning, but gives more precise control over overclocking. You will be able to overclock depending on the running applications. So, to run WinZip 12 or another single-threaded application, you can create an appropriate profile that lowers the frequencies of three Phenom II cores so that the fourth core has an increased thermal overclocking potential, which, hopefully, will give an additional 200 or 300 MHz. The problem is that your favorite applications will have to be specified separately, setting the core frequency, core binding, etc. for each. However, the function is still quite interesting, and most enthusiasts will probably want to use it. AMD was able to show modest performance gains, mostly due to increased overclocking potential.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Test configuration

Test configuration
CPU	AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (Deneb) 3.2 GHz, AM3, 2000 MHz HT, 6 MB L3 Cache, Power Savings Off AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition (Deneb) 3.0 GHz, AM2+, 1800 MHz HT, 6 MB L3 Cache, Power Savings Off AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (Heka) 2.8 GHz, AM2+, 2000 MHz HT, 6 MB L3 Cache, Power Savings Off Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S ​​(Yorkfield) 2.83GHz, LGA 775, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB L2 Cache, Power Savings Off Intel Core i7 965 Extreme (Bloomfield) 3.2 GHz, LGA 1366, 6.4 GT/s QPI, 8 MB L3 cache, power savings disabled Intel Core i7 920 (Bloomfield) 2.66 GHz, LGA 1366, 4.8 GT/s QPI, 8 MB L3 cache, power savings disabled
Motherboard	Asus M4A79T Deluxe (AM3) 790FX/SB750, BIOS 0902 Asus M3A78-T (AM2+) 790GX/SB750, BIOS 0903 Intel DX48BT2 (LGA 775) X48/ICH10R, BIOS 1902 Asus P6T (LGA 1366) X58/ICH10R, BIOS 0502
Memory	Corsair 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 @ DDR3-1333 Corsair 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 Corsair 6 GB (3 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 @ DDR3-1333
HDD	Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10K RPM SATA 3Gb/s
video card	Zotac GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB
Power Supply	Cooler Master UCP 1100W
System software and drivers
Operating system	Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x64, Service Pack 1
DirectX	DirectX 10
Platform driver	Catalyst 9.4 Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.0.1012
Graphics driver	GeForce 182.50

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Tests and settings

3D games
Stalker: Clear Sky	Quality settings set to high, 1920x1200/1680x1050, Benchmark tool, average of all four scenarios
Far Cry 2	Quality settings set to high, 1920x1200/1680x1050, latest Steam version, in-game benchmark (Ranch medium).
Left 4 Dead	Quality settings set to max, 1920x1200/1680x1050, latest Steam version, timed demo.
world in conflict	Quality settings set to very high, 1920x1200/1680x1050, Patch 1.009, Built-in benchmark.
Grand Theft Auto 4	Quality settings set to high, Anisotropic filtering: "High," 1920x1200/1680x1050, Patch 1.3, Built-in benchmark.
Audio encoding
iTunes	Version: 8.1.0.52, Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min., Default format AAC
Lame MP3	Version: 3.98 (64-bit), Audio CD ""Terminator II" SE, 53 min, wave to MP3, 160 Kb/s
Video encoding
TMPEG 4.6	Version: 4.5.1.254, Import File: "Terminator II" SE DVD (5 Minutes), Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.8.5	Encoding mode: Insane Quality, Enhanced Multi-Threading, Enabled using SSE4, Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.2.1	Display encoding status=off
Mainconcept Reference 1.6.1	MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS), Profile: Tom's Hardware Settings for Qct-Core
Applications
Autodesk 3D Studio Max 2009 (64-bit)	Version: 2009, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Winrar 3.80	Version 3.80, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
winzip 12	Version 12, Compression=Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Synthetic tests
3D Mark Vantage	Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores
PC Mark Vantage	Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra 2009 SP3	CPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/MultiMedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Test results

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Synthetic tests

In terms of price, AMD is closest to the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, which is sold on the international market for $270 (from 9,000 rubles in Russia). In the PCMark test suite, this 2.83GHz Intel competitor managed to slightly outperform the AMD X4 955 in the overall score, although the results are close.

The Phenom II X4 940 lags a little behind the X4 955, while the X3 720 results drop more significantly - the fourth core is still missing.

But the Core i7 965 Extreme and Core i7 920 provide a significant performance boost over the Q9550. And at a price of $288 on the international market (from 10.7 thousand rubles in Russia), the i7 920 looks like a very worthy purchase.

Once again, the Phenom II X4 955 showed results close to the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, although it lost a little. Considering the price difference of $30, the result is quite expected. Pay attention to the CPU results, where you can see the advantage of the Core i7 in this synthetic test, and even compared to Intel's own Core 2 Quad microarchitecture.

Sandra 2009 uses new terminology for arithmetic and multimedia tests, now measuring giga instructions per second, giga floating point operations per second, and megapixels per second (in addition to gigabytes per second in the memory bandwidth test).

The tests immediately demonstrate the arithmetic power of the Core i7. The AMD Phenom II X4 delivers improved performance in the multimedia test, easily competing with the Core i7 920.

The Core i7's three-channel memory controller provides a significant memory bandwidth advantage, but the Phenom II's integrated memory controller is significantly faster in terms of memory handling compared to the chipset's northbridge in the Core 2 Quad architecture. The low memory bandwidth of the Phenom II X4 940 in this test is rather interesting, but the results are quite repeatable.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Audio and video encoding

The Phenom II X3 720 takes the last place in the multi-threaded video transcoding test. The Phenom II X4 performs well, outperforming the Core 2 Quad Q9550 and approaching the Intel Core i7 920 results. Intel's Nehalem design continues to underline its dominance in A/V encoding tests, but AMD holds up pretty well too.

The iTunes test does not support multi-threading, so it responds more noticeably to pure clock speed and microarchitecture (the loss of the Core i7 920 in clock speed compared to the Core 2 Quad just leveled the results of the two architectures). AMD is lagging behind, even though we see good scalability going from 2.8 to 3.0 and 3.2 GHz.

We tried the latest DivX and Xvid codecs with the TMPGEnc utility. Quite naturally, Intel processors used SSE4, while AMD processors used SSE/SSE2/3DNow! (by the way, this test already supports CUDA acceleration).

DivX is a multi-threaded application and we see the Phenom II X3 once again drop in performance compared to quad-core processors. The Phenom II X4 955 outperforms the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, but it, in turn, is crushed by the Core i7 processors.

Xvid cannot benefit from quad-core CPUs, this codec responds better to clock speed. The latest Phenom II and Core 2 Quad models come close to each other, but they are surpassed by the Core i7 processors.

We ran the 64-bit version of Lame, but it didn't have much of a performance impact when compared to the old 32-bit version. Again, here we see more of an impact on clock speed rather than multithreading. All AMD processors are inferior to the Intel Core 2 and Core i7 models in our testing.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Applications

We're currently updating our test suite, so we've temporarily omitted the AVG and Photoshop antivirus tests (we'll be introducing a different antivirus script shortly, as well as Photoshop CS4).

We used the latest version of WinZip, however it still doesn't respond well to multiple cores, performance is more dependent on clock speed. The speed of Phenom II processors scales linearly, with even the 2.83GHz Core 2 Quad being able to outperform the 2.66GHz Core i7 920.

The latest version of WinRAR, on the other hand, is capable of using all the cores on the system - so the Core i7 has a pretty resounding win.

It seems rather strange that the X3 720 is equal to the AMD X4 940 - the latter is 200 MHz faster and contains one more core. In any case, AMD performed well against the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, beating it by 16 seconds when compressing a 334 MB test set of files.

Upgrading to the latest version of 3ds Max 2009 (64-bit) also shows some serious multi-threaded optimizations. The Phenom II X3 720 processor is very slow. In general, for rendering tasks, a quad-core processor is indispensable.

The Phenom II X4 955 performs well compared to the Core 2 Quad Q9550, beating it by a second. Both Core i7 processors were able to deliver better results, which we expected from applications that are well optimized for multithreading.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Games

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Far Cry 2

We are seeing an old story here. In our test Socket AM3 platforms we observed some rather strange results, due to which we had to publish . Not much has changed since then, and in many benchmarks we see slowdowns in gaming tests on Core i7 processors with nVidia graphics cards. If we use an AMD graphics card, the results will differ much more, which we have already demonstrated in our article .

However, the conclusion turned out to be quite positive for AMD, as the Phenom II X4 955 and Core 2 Quad Q9550 provide the highest frame rates in Far Cry 2 without anisotropic filtering or anti-aliasing. Let's see what happens if you turn on the increase in visual details (loading the graphics subsystem more).

The performance lag of the Core i7 continues even after enabling anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing. The Core 2 Quad clearly delivers higher frame rates, closely followed by the Phenom II X4 955. However, the difference is small. Can we get the same performance picture in Stalker: Clear Sky?

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Stalker: Clear Sky

Not at all. Intel Core i7 processors paired with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 video card demonstrate their dominance (although, to be honest, the difference in this case is completely negligible). Stalker is a graphically intensive game, so the GeForce results are pretty well normalized in this case. You can expect the same situation after enabling anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing.

All the processors we tested give results that differ within one frame per second at 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 resolutions, and it is very problematic to play at both resolutions. If you want to get normal gaming performance, then it is better to get a more powerful graphics card.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Left 4 Dead

The AMD Phenom II X4 955 came in third behind both Intel Core i7s. The difference in 1920x1200 resolution is still very small, and the Core 2 Quad processor gives almost the same results.

The results become closer to each other after enabling anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. "Why not test at 640x480 or 800x600 where the difference in performance between processors would be more noticeable?" Indeed, but you will buy a processor for $200-$300 and a comparable video card in order to avoid such modes, right?

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | WiC

Three Intel processors provide the highest frame rates in World in Conflict, but it should be noted that the AMD Phenom II X4 955 is quite close to the Core 2 Quad results.

If you turn on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, then at 1920x1200 all the mentioned processors give very similar results. There is no serious difference.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Grand Theft Auto 4

The only exception to this console port is the AMD Phenom II X3 720, which falls behind at 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. The rest of the processors provide relatively close performance, which is what we used to expect from Grand Theft Auto 4.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | power usage

When comparing power consumption, we got some pretty interesting results. First of all, it is worth noting that we used our Core i7 965 engineering sample to simulate the performance of the Core i7 920 (SpeedStep technology was not available), locking its frequency at 2.66 GHz on the Asus P6T motherboard. Therefore, all of our idle measurements were taken with each platform running at rated clock speeds. Fortunately, a retail version of the Core i7 920 processor (with unlocked memory multipliers) will soon arrive in our lab.

This may explain the strange results at idle, where the X3 720 consumes more power than the quad-core Phenom II, but under load we get a completely incomprehensible picture. The Phenom II X3 processor consumes more than the other two Phenom IIs.

It should also be noted that the Core 2 Quad Q9550 gave the minimum power consumption due to the fact that we took a chip from the economical Core 2 Quad Q9550S ​​line with a thermal package (TDP) of 65 W. We have published a separate For this reason, this processor has become a champion in low power consumption, although it costs significantly more than the Q9550.

In the end, the relatively new 45nm process allowed the new Phenom II X4 955 to achieve almost the same power consumption as the X4 940 - the 1W difference can be attributed to 1.8V DDR3 memory instead of 2.1V DDR2 modules.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 | Conclusion

It only took two months before AMD finally unveiled the leaders for the new Socket AM3.

However, we still did not receive the "killer" Core i7. In fact, AMD's fastest processor can't match the slowest i7 processor (unless you look at gaming results, where the performance difference between quad-core processors is very small).

But AMD hit the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 pretty well. And this is important. With the exception of the $1,500 Core 2 Extreme QX9775 that supports DP configurations, only one Core 2 Quad processor remains among AMD's superior competitors: the 3GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650. This means the Phenom II X4 955 is in the high end of the mainstream market in terms of performance, with an unlocked multiplier and a platform that surpasses that of the Core 2 Quad line (thanks to thoughtful software support for enthusiasts and overclockers). However, AMD is still outperformed by the Core i7 with the CrossFire/SLI ecosystem.

In the end, everything will depend on the price. If the Phenom II X4 955 plus a 790FX/GX motherboard with 4 GB of DDR3-1333 memory is your budget limit (let's put it at $500, for example), then you can't go wrong. We were able to squeeze 3.6 GHz out of our processor using the stock cooler before it went over 60 degrees and started to falter in the Prime95 test. So for overclocking you will need a more powerful cooler. AMD successfully complements the hardware capabilities with its software package - Overdrive 3.0 and Fusion utilities have gone far enough beyond the usual modification of the BIOS, and now they have turned into a nice additional package that allows you to increase performance, save energy and more precisely control how your computer works. .

A Core i7 920 bundle with an X58 motherboard and 6GB of DDR3-1333 memory will cost about $100 more - temptingly close. However, this scenario is also not bad, since in many tests the 2.66-GHz processor outperformed all other solutions. You won't get Overdrive or Fusion, but the addition of CrossFire and SLI support is pretty significant, especially for gamers who are fans of nVidia GPUs.

Without a doubt, AMD is showing signs of life. The progress in hardware is very noticeable, as can be seen from the release of the Phenom II X4 955 and Radeon HD 4890 a little earlier in April. AMD software developers are seriously focused on enthusiasts, offering a couple of interesting utilities for them. And although we don't expect any changes in the AMD chipset line until 2010, the 790GX/FX platform handles external video cards pretty well. In the meantime, the transition to Socket AM3/DDR3 gives a few percent performance boost to the already quite efficient memory subsystem.

Introduction.
In this review, your attention will be presented to the next processor manufactured by the company. This processor belongs to the Phenom II family and is the top processor in the family.
The processor is socket AM3, which is backwards compatible with socket AM2+. Also a feature of the socket version of AM3 is the use of DDR3 memory type, while motherboards based on AM2 + use only DDR2 memory.

Equipment.

The processor comes in a plastic box, in which it is reliably protected from any breakage of the legs.
The fact that even OEM processors have this packaging is gratifying.

External examination of the processor.

The appearance of the top processor of the family differs little from other processors of the family. In appearance, it is even difficult to distinguish from Athlon processors, which remain only in memory.

The processor legs are fully compatible with the AM2 + socket, so their location has not changed.

Processor specifications.
1. Number in model range: 955
2. CPU working frequency: 3.2GHz
3. Bus speed: 3.6GT/s
4. Cache size: L1 Cache (Instruction + Data)
5. L2 cache: 512KB x4
6. L3 cache: 6MB Shared L3
7. Manufacturing process: 45-nanometer SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
8. Memory controller: Integrated dual channel with support for DDR2 memory and DDR3 memory.
9. Supported memory types: PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066); PC2 6400 (DDR2-800); PC2 5300 (DDR2-667); PC2 4200 (DDR2-533); PC2 3200 (DDR2-400) DDR2, PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333MHz) unbuffered
10. Core area: 45nm=258mm
11. Transistors: 45 nm = 758 million
12. Socket: Socket AM3 - 940-pin organic micro Pin Grid Array (micro-PGA)

Overclocking results.

Using the possibilities of a free multiplier, we managed to conquer 3.79 GHz. Not a record result, but quite claiming the status of an average.

Test configuration.
1. Phenom II X4 940.
2. Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H
3. 4x2 Gb Samsung Original DDR-800.
4. Sapphire HD4850 ​​512Mb GDDR3.

Tests in which the system participated:
1.Winrar.
2. Sisoft Sandra - arithmetic test.
3. Far Cry 2
4. 3Dmark 2006.

1.Winrar.
A 500 MB file was archived with the calculation of its archiving time.

The higher frequency of the processor allows it to gain a foothold in the second position in terms of performance - which is good news.

2. Sisoft Sandra - arithmetic test.

Processor performance has grown, which was to be expected, since this synthetic test is highly sensitive to the processor frequency.

3. Far Cry 2

The performance of the more productive processor remained at the level of the previous processor.

The new processor almost catches up with Intel's Core I7 processor in terms of performance. But still, this level remains unconquered.

Conclusion.
However, as always, I can't recommend buying a top-end processor. For a higher cost, we have mediocre overclocking and performance. At the same time, the price of the kit based on Phenom II X4 955 is catching up with the kit based on Core I7 920, but in terms of performance it is much inferior to it.

Article prepared fireaid specially for Mega Review.

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AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - Beyond Three GHz

Today we are going to review the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor. This model is an evolutionary development of the Phenom II processor line, first introduced in early January 2009. Then we considered the Phenom II X4 940 processor. Outwardly, the novelty looks quite ordinary, like all other AMD processors for the Socket AM3 platform.

In addition to the ability to work with DDR3 RAM, there are some other differences compared to its predecessor. For clarity, we present a table of characteristics. We also included rivals from the Intel camp, who also participated in the last test.

CPU	AMD Phenom II X4 955	AMD Phenom II X4 940	Intel Core 2 Quad 9300	Intel Core i7 965 Extreme
L1 cache, KB	4 x 128	4 x 128	4x64	4 x 128
L2 cache, KB	4 x 512	4 x 512	2 x 3072	4x256
L3 cache, Mb	6	6	-	8
Process technology, nm	45	45	45	45
HT speed, MHz	4000	3600	-	-
FSB, MHz	200	200	1333	133
Clock frequency, MHz	3200	3000	2500	3200
Intel QuickPath Interconnect	-	-	-	6.4 GT/s
Socket	AM2+/AM3	AM2+	LGA 775	LGA 1366
Memory type	DDR2/DDR3	DDR2	determined by the chipset	DDR3
Test conditions
Real processor frequency, MHz	3200 (200x16)	3000 (200x15)	3000 (400x7.5)	3060 (133x23)
Memory type/speed	DDR2-1066	DDR2-1066	DDR2-1066	DDR3-1333
Motherboard	ASUS M4A79 Deluxe	Gigabyte 790GP	ASUS P5QC	Gigabyte EX58
video system	Radeon HD4870X2	Radeon HD4870X2	Radeon HD4870X2	Radeon HD4870X2
Operating system	WinVista Ultimate 32-bit	WinVista Ultimate 32-bit	WinVista Ultimate 32-bit	WinVista Ultimate 32-bit

Below are the readings of the CPU-Z utility, displaying the characteristics of the processor, motherboard and RAM mode.

Overclocking

Since this CPU belongs to the Black Edition series, we used a multiplier increase for overclocking. It was possible to achieve stable operation of the processor at a frequency of 3.8 GHz with a Vcore voltage of 1.425 V.

But a more detailed study of the issue showed that increasing the multiplier is not the only way to improve the performance of a given processor. The fact is that the third-level cache memory of AMD Phenom processors does not work synchronously with the core frequency, but at the "north bridge" frequency - NB Frequency. By default, as you can see from the screenshots above, the motherboard sets this frequency to 2000 MHz, but allows you to change this value up to 6000 MHz. Of course, such high values ​​are unlikely to be achieved by conventional methods. At the same time, increasing the NB frequency to 2600 MHz did not require changing any other settings and increasing voltages. At the same time, we increased the frequency of the HyperTransport bus, also up to 2600 MHz. Note that due to architectural features, the frequency of the HT bus cannot exceed the frequency of the NB.

This screenshot shows the maximum settings that we managed to achieve when overclocking an instance of the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor that fell into our hands.

As can be seen from this screenshot, the frequency of the "north bridge", and hence the third-level cache, is 2600 MHz.

Testing

The video system is represented by a Radeon HD4870X2 card, and the RAM is Corsair DDR2-1066, 2 x 1 Gb. Since the northbridge frequency defaults to 2000 MHz but can be raised to 2600 MHz relatively easily, we decided to find out how this affects overall performance. As a result, for AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, four combinations of HT bus, northbridge and processor frequencies were obtained:

• default mode - frequency HT=NB=2000 MHz, frequency CPU = 3.2 GHz
• overclocking L3 cache - frequency HT=NB=2600 MHz, frequency CPU = 3.2 GHz
• CPU overclock - HT=NB=2000 MHz frequency, CPU frequency = 3.8 GHz
• maximum mode - frequency HT=NB=2600 MHz, frequency CPU = 3.8 GHz

We will be comparing the results of the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition with its predecessor, the Phenom II X4 940, and with Intel's Core 2 Quad 9300 running at 3.0 GHz. The charts also show the results of the Intel Core i7 processor at 3.06 GHz, which corresponds to the Core i7 950 model.

The three-channel RAM controller of the Core i7 processor does not leave the rest of the participants a single chance. At the same time, Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition confidently outperforms its predecessor Phenom II X4 940 and Intel Core 2 Quad 9300. As expected, in this test, increasing the frequency of the Phenom II X4 955 L3 cache has a much better effect on performance than overclocking nuclei.

The Intel Core 2 Quad 9300 performs better with memory writes than the Phenom II X4 955 at default frequencies. However, an increase in the NB frequency to 2600 MHz can more than compensate for this lag.

In the copy-to-memory test, the results lined up in the same order as in the read test. However, the increase in Phenom II X4 955 results from increasing the NB frequency is not as great here as before.

The RAM latency test didn't surprise us either.

In the test of integer operations, Intel processors are in the lead. As for the influence of the third-level cache frequency, it is, for obvious reasons, minimal here.

The PhotoWorxx test intensively loads the memory subsystem as well, which leads to a significant gap between the Phenom II and the Core 2 Quad 9300. In turn, the three-channel Core i7 memory controller leaves no chance for the rest of the test participants.

In the Zlib test, the increased frequency of the L3 cache in Phenom II does not affect the final result at all.

Apparently, the CPU AES test is not able to take advantage of the Core i7 architecture and Hyper Threading, but only responds to the frequency of CPU computing units. Of course, under these conditions, the Phenom II processor overclocked to 3.8 GHz demonstrates the best result.

In the FPU Julia floating point test, Intel processors feel more than confident, and even overclocking the Phenom II does not allow it to come close to the results of the Core 2 Quad 9300 running at a lower frequency.

In the FPU Mandel test, the situation for AMD processors is not as depressing as in the previous case. The Core 2 Quad shows a slightly better result at a lower frequency, and overclocking the Phenom II allows it to take the lead. But the absolute leader, of course, is the Core i7.

The SinJulia FPU test responds well to the presence of HyperThreading and the Core i7 is ahead by a huge margin. Against this background, the spread of the results of the rest of the test participants looks modest and insignificant.

In the built-in WinRar test, AMD processors show better results than the Core 2 Quad 9300, but, of course, they are still very far from the Core i7 level.

Cinebench has always been kind to Intel processors. However, the results shown by AMD processors scale well in frequency. Please note that increasing the L3 cache frequency in this test has the same effect as overclocking the CPU to 3.8 GHz.

The CPU test of the 3DMark Vantage package makes great use of multithreading, so the Core i7 with HyperThreading is out of competition. At the stock frequency, the Phenom II X4 955 is slightly behind the Core 2 Quad 9300 overclocked to 3.0 GHz, and when overclocked, it outperforms it a little. The influence of the L3 cache frequency in this case is minimal.

In the CPU test of the game Crysis at the minimum graphics quality settings, the Core i7 results are ahead, and even overclocking the Phenom II does not allow them to come close to the leader.

However, the transition to mid-level graphics settings radically changes the balance of power. Even at stock frequencies, the Phenom II X4 955 is slightly ahead of the Core i7, not to mention the Core 2 Quad 9300. Further overclocking of the Phenom II increases the gap, and the influence of the L3 cache frequency is clearly visible.

In the High and VeryHigh modes, the same picture is observed, that is, the alignment of forces does not change anymore.

findings

In general, testing AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition showed quite expected results. In those cases where applications actively use multithreading and are demanding on the computing power of FPU units, it is naturally inferior to Core i7 processors and even not the top-end Core 2 Quad. On the other hand, the built-in memory controller and large L3 cache perform well in many applications involving the processing of large amounts of data. Well, the example of Crysis shows that even high-tech games do not yet use multithreading to the fullest, but they are sensitive to CPU frequency and low latency of RAM.

It is gratifying that new AMD processors have recently shown good overclocking potential. This indicates the "maturity" of the 45 nm process technology and allows us to hope for the emergence of more productive models in the near future.

The cost of AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition in Moscow retail is about $280-300 and may seem a bit overpriced, because the Core i7 920 processor, which has a three-channel memory controller and supports eight computational threads, costs about the same. However, here it is worth considering the cost of switching to a new platform. In the case of Core i7, in addition to the processor, you will have to change the motherboard, cooler and, possibly, RAM. At the same time, the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor can work perfectly in any motherboard equipped with Socket AM2+. If you are already the owner of this platform, then you will only have to replace the processor (well, maybe also the cooler if overclocking is planned). But even if you change the motherboard, its cost will be much lower than the platform based on the Intel X58 chipset. So if you're not looking for records, the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor can be a good way to "extend the life" of the Socket AM2+ platform without sacrificing comfort in games and demanding everyday tasks.

Processor Phenom II X4 955, the price of a new one on amazon and ebay is 10,140 rubles, which is equal to $175. Marked by the manufacturer as: HDZ955FBGMBOX.

Number of cores - 4.

The base frequency of the Phenom II X4 955 cores is 3.2 GHz.

Price in Russia

Want to buy Phenom II X4 955 cheaply? Look at the list of stores that already sell the processor in your city.

Family

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AMD Phenom II X4 955 test

The data comes from tests by users who tested their systems with and without overclocking. Thus, you see the average values ​​corresponding to the processor.

Speed ​​of numerical operations

Different tasks require different strengths CPU. A system with few fast cores is great for gaming, but will be inferior to a system with a lot of slow cores in a rendering scenario.

We believe that a processor with at least 4 cores/4 threads is suitable for a budget gaming PC. At the same time, individual games can load it at 100% and slow down, and performing any tasks in the background will lead to a drop in FPS.

Ideally, the buyer should aim for a minimum of 6/6 or 6/12, but keep in mind that systems with more than 16 threads are currently only applicable to professional tasks.

The data is obtained from tests by users who tested their systems both with overclocking (the maximum value in the table) and without (the minimum). A typical result is indicated in the middle, with a colored bar indicating the position among all tested systems.

Accessories

We have put together a list of components that users most often choose when building a Phenom II X4 955 based computer. These components also achieve the best test results and stable operation.

The most popular config: motherboard for AMD Phenom II X4 955 - Gigabyte GA-A320M-HD2-CF, video card - GeForce 7100 GS.

Today, AMD is known around the world as a supplier of technologically advanced, high-performance, but at the same time affordable processors for personal computers. various types. In Russia, the line of AMD Phenom II chips, which is produced by this brand, is currently very popular.

In turn, the modification of the X4 processors, which belong to the corresponding line, has also become very widespread. These chips can be described as universal high-speed devices, ideal for overclocking. What are their main specifications? What do modern IT specialists think about the effectiveness of Phenom II chips in the X4 modification?

general information

The AMD Phenom II family of processors is based on the high-tech K10-type microarchitecture. In the corresponding chip line, there are solutions that are equipped with a number of cores from 2 to 6. X4 chips, which belong to the family in question, also belong to the Dragon platform developed by AMD. Chips with 6 cores belong to the Leo platform. AMD releases Phenom II chips in several modifications. These are Thuban, Deneb, Zosma, Heka and Callisto.

All these microcircuits are united by one technological process - 45 nm. There can be significant differences between them. Since Thurban modification processors have 6 cores and 904 million transistors, this level of chips has a L3 cache size of 64 GB. The same amount is reserved for instructions. The L2 cache is 512 KB and the L3 cache is 6 MB. The processors support DDR3 and DDR2 RAM modules.

The value of power consumption lies in the range from 95 to 125 watts. Processors that belong to this proprietary line can operate at a frequency of 2.6 to 3.3 GHz when using the Turbo Core option - 3.7 GHz. In the Zosma modification, AMD Phenom chips have 4 cores. They have the same cache performance as the Thuban processors. The situation is also with the support of RAM modules. As for the power consumption level of the device, there are chips in the Zosma line that can run at 65 watts.

There are also those that consume 140 watts of power. In this modification, the processors operate at a frequency of 3.3 GHz in Turbo Core mode. They can accelerate up to 3.4 GHz. The Deneb line of chips also has 4 cores. These processors have 758 million transistors. The area is 258 square millimeters. The cache memory parameters in this case are the same as in the modifications considered above. The same can be said about the level of support for major technologies and memory modules.

Processors that belong to the Deneb modification support operation at a frequency of 2.4 to 3.7 GHz. The Heka line chips are almost identical to the Deneb chips in terms of their characteristics. The only difference is that they have 3 cores. Technically, they are Deneb processors with one core disabled. It is also worth noting that the frequencies supported by Heka chips are kept in the range from 2.5 to 3 GHz. In addition, there are no modifications among the processors of this line, the power consumption level of which exceeds 95 watts.

Another modification of Phenom II chips is Callisto. The chips that belong to this modification are actually identical to the Deneb processors, only they work on two cores. So they are Deneb chips that have 2 cores disabled. The processors of this line operate in the frequency range from 3 to 3.4 GHz. The power consumption value is 80 W. The most common types of Phenom II processors in Russia include representatives of the Deneb line. The chips that belong to this technological range are produced in the following modifications: X4 940, X4 965, X4 945, X4 955. The X4 line also has a flagship model - X4 980. Next, we will take a closer look at the features of these chip modifications.

Processor X4 940: Specifications

The first processor that we will consider is the X4 940. This chip has the following technical characteristics: the processor frequency is 3 GHz using a multiplier of 15 units, the chip has 4 cores, is made within technological process 45 nm. The amount of cache memory of the 1st level is 128 KB, the second level - 2 MB, the third level - 6 MB. The instruction set supported by the chip includes MMX, SSE 3DNow! The X4 940 processor is compatible with AMD 64/EM65T and NX Bit technologies. The temperature limit value of the X4 940 chip is 62 degrees. The chip supports socket type AM2+. It can be noted that the X4 945 processor has almost the same characteristics. The only difference is that X4 945 can work with socket AM3.

Chip X4 955: features and capabilities

Consider the specifics of the AMD Phenom II X4 955 chip. This chip has the following specifications: in this modification, the processor operates at a frequency of 3.2 MHz using a multiplier of 16. There is also an integrated memory controller with a bandwidth of 21 Gb / s.

The size of the processor's cache memory practically does not differ from what the models discussed above have. In terms of support for computing and multimedia technologies, the chip has the same characteristics as the younger processors. Limiting working temperature chip is 62 degrees. The most significant advantages of the X4 955 include compatibility with DDR3 RAM modules.

What practical possibilities does this chip have? It is worth paying attention to the results of some tests of this processor. It is worth noting that these results were achieved when using the device in combination with an ASUS M4A79T motherboard that supports AM3 sockets and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM.

Tests conducted by IT experts show that, in combination with DDR3 memory modules, the AMD Phenom II processor is noticeably ahead of similar chips installed in computers equipped with DDR2 RAM. Therefore, in practice, a significant factor in the use of this chip is its addition to other technological and high-performance hardware components.

X4 955: overclocking

Let's consider another important aspect of using the X4 955 processor, namely overclocking. Experienced IT experts advise overclocking using the multi-functional utility Overdrive 3.0. You can, of course, overclock through the BIOS, but using the marked version of the program allows you to solve the problem without having to restart your personal computer. The most notable features of this utility include the BEMP function.

Its use allows you to greatly simplify the configuration of the processor in overclocking mode. This function involves establishing a connection between the Overdrive program and a database that contains lists of optimal values ​​for frequencies and other options that are necessary to speed up the chip. Also very useful is the Smart Profiles option, which is available in the Overdrive program. With this option, the user has the ability to fine-tune the overclocking process of the chip.

The Overdrive program allows you to adapt the overclocking of the AMD Phenom II X4 processor to the work of applications running on the computer. For example, if some program operates in single-threaded mode, then using the appropriate software, the user can reduce the frequencies from 3 cores out of 4 so that the fourth core has increased speed limits. At the same time, the operating temperature of the device will remain optimal.

AMD Phenom II X4 955: comparison with competitors

How competitive is the version of the AMD Phenom II X4 processor we are reviewing? The review in terms of comparing this chip with analogues will most likely not be detailed enough. However, we can examine the test results of the chip, which were carried out by experts in the field of IT technology. The closest competitor of the model we are considering is the Intel Core 2 Quad Q 9550. Tests show that in terms of performance, the solution from Intel is slightly faster.

However, the difference identified by experts does not play a practical role when launching games and applications. Solutions such as Intel Core i7, in turn, are noticeably ahead of AMD Phenom II X4. At the same time, all three microcircuits have a comparable market value. It can also be noted that the AMD Phenom II X4 processor is more competitive in multimedia tests than in arithmetic ones. When testing, it is important to measure the performance level of the compared solutions in different modes. This will give an opportunity to get an objective idea of ​​the capabilities of the microcircuit.

AMD Phenom II X4965 Specifications and Features

This chip has the following specifications: the standard processor frequency is 3.4 GHz, the voltage on the chip is 1.4 V. Otherwise, the processor parameters are identical to the lower models of the line. It should be noted that this chip can be used on two types of sockets - AM2 + and AM3. The memory controller installed in the processor, in turn, is also compatible with two RAM standards - DDR2 and DDR3.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Overclocking

Let's see how successful overclocking of the AMD Phenom II X4 965 chip can be. The processors of this line are well adapted to the ability to adjust the voltage level. So, for example, some advanced solutions from Intel can work unstably at a voltage of 1.65 V. AMD chips operate quite stably in such modes. Tests show that the AMD Phenom II X4 965 can be overclocked to 3.8 GHz.

It is worth noting that approximately the same result was achieved when accelerating the processor in the 955 modification. IT specialists note that theoretically, the AMD Phenom II X4 965 chip can be accelerated to a frequency of 4 GHz. This will keep your computer stable. However, if this indicator is exceeded, the processor may become unstable in some modes. Experts who tested this version of the AMD Phenom II X4 processor claim that overclocking makes it possible not only to fix the advantages of this microcircuit in tests, but also to achieve a significant acceleration of the computer.

It should be noted that it is possible to overclock a processor in the AMD Phenom II X4 modification not only when conducting experiments with coefficients. Many experts use a technique in which chip acceleration can be achieved by increasing the frequency of the north bridge. It can be brought up to an indicator that corresponds to 2.6 GHz.

In this case, the motherboard on which the processor is installed must support the appropriate operating modes of the microcircuit. An extremely important point when overclocking any chip is the appropriate characteristics of the cooling system. If the system copes well with normal operation, this does not mean at all that it will be able to ensure stable operation of the microcircuit during overclocking. Therefore, it may be necessary to install a cooling system with a higher speed.

When conducting experiments with overclocking chips, it will be useful to have programs at hand that allow you to monitor the temperature of the processor in real time. At some point, even the most efficient chip cooling system may not work stably. In this case, it is important for the user not to miss such moments and fix overheating in time. The work associated with increasing the processor frequencies must be carried out systematically, avoiding sudden changes in the corresponding parameters. If the chip will work flawlessly at a given frequency with acceptable heating, then you can slightly increase the frequency. This can be done until the maximum performance is reached, at which the microcircuit is still working stably.

AMD Phenom II X4 980: flagship model

The closest attention, perhaps, should be given to the flagship model of the line. Its modification BE is quite popular. Its advantage lies in the fact that it has an unlocked coefficient and therefore has become popular among overclockers. The key features of this processor basically coincide with those of AMD Phenom II X4 945. In terms of supported standards and cache memory size, the characteristics remain the same as in the younger models of the line. However, the chip has a rather high level of power consumption - 125 watts. However, for a high level of processor frequency, this indicator can be considered optimal.

AMD Phenom II X4 980: testing

Testing of the AMD Phenom II X4 980 chip showed that its performance is quite consistent with that of the leading models of the Intel brand, which are based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. In addition, in some tests, such as multimedia, the chip even outperforms more powerful counterparts, such as the Intel Core i5-2500. If we talk about effective tools for measuring the speed of chips, then you should definitely pay attention to the Everest program.

This program is a collection of synthetic tests. These include CPU Photoworx, CPU Queen, CPU Zlib. These tests provide an opportunity to evaluate the performance of microcircuits in a complex. It is also noteworthy that the benchmarks that are part of the Everest program are perfectly adapted to testing the speed of work with the simultaneous use of several computational threads. This means that during the tests, the processor cores can be fully loaded.

The more there are, the higher the actual processor performance. Experts consider the performance of the chip when performing floating-point operations to be an important indicator. The solution from AMD in the relevant tests is confidently ahead of competing processors from Intel.

Another notable tool that can be used to measure the speed of chips is the PC Mark program. Her salient feature consists in a comprehensive study of the capabilities of the chip. The testing modes in this program are as close as possible to real conditions. So, for example, this program makes it possible to provide processor testing by activating web browsing or converting one type of file to another.

Testing of the AMD Phenom II X4 chip in this modification demonstrates simply excellent results.
Another popular test among IT professionals is 3D Mark. It makes it possible to evaluate the capabilities of processors, in a mode that corresponds to the loads in three-dimensional games. Experts note that AMD Phenom II X4 980 is the absolute leader in its price segment according to the results of tests in 3D Mark. In addition, the superiority of this processor over some Thuban chips, which are equipped with 6 cores, was recorded. There are no stability issues when working in the main screen resolutions.

If we talk about the frame rate, then in some modes AMD Phenom II X4 980 turns out to be preferable to processors from AMD. In addition, in a real game process, the difference in processing speed between solutions from AMD and Intel, which is observed during testing, is most likely to be imperceptible.

Conclusion

In this review, we reviewed the characteristics of the AMD Phenom II X4 line. If a we are talking If we talk about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 model or its older modification 940, then the characteristics of these chips are similar to each other. The main difference between the chips is the frequency, and in some cases the types of sockets supported. All modifications of this line can be overclocked.

The devices look quite competitive against the background of similar solutions from Intel. If we talk about the technological capabilities of the AMD Phenom II X4 line of chips, then the supported standards allow us to conclude that AMD has brought to the market truly advanced solutions that look more than competitive against the background of similar solutions from Intel.