Phenomenal?
AMD is launching a new CPU today. The premise behind the release rests with the chip company needing to eke out every last penny of revenue from the Phenom II line of processors that are fundamentally based on 'K10' technology first brought to market in 2007.
The Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition becomes AMD's fastest-clocked chip. Chiming in at 3.7GHz and due to debut for around £150, the quad-core chip, powered by the Deneb core, does without the Turbo CORE niceness of the six-core Thuban processors.
But then this is just a clock bump over other Phenom II chips that have been out for more than two years, and it would have been nice to see this processor based on the four-core Zosma die that's a cutdown version of the six-core Thuban, replete with Turbo CORE support. Yup, AMD makes it all a bit confusing.
Being a Black Edition CPU means that it is fully unlocked, that is, users can increase the multiplier and base clock without any restriction from AMD. But ensuring that it can operate at 3.7GHz translates to a maximum power-draw of 125W.
Fitting into AM2/AM2+/AM3 sockets and sporting DDR2 and DDR3 compatibility, here's how it stacks up against a bewildering number of AMD and Intel chips:
| Model number | Cores / Threads | Clock Speed (GHz) |
Max Turbo (GHz) |
IGP | Process | Die size | Cache | Interface* | Memory channels | TDP | Socket | Price*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom II X6 1100T |
6/6 | 3.30 | 3.70 | N/A | 45nm (Thuban) |
346mm² | 3MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $239 |
| AMD Phenom II X6 1090T |
6/6 | 3.20 | 3.60 | N/A | 45nm (Thuban) |
346mm² | 3MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $199 |
| AMD Phenom II X6 1075T |
6/6 | 3.00 | 3.50 | N/A | 45nm (Thuban) |
346mm² | 3MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $179 |
| AMD Phenom II X6 1055T |
6/6 | 2.80 | 3.30 | N/A | 45nm (Thuban) |
346mm² | 3MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 95W | AM3 | $169 |
| AMD Phenom II X4 980 BE | 4/4 | 3.70 | N/A | N/A | 45nm (Deneb) |
258mm² | 2MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $199 |
| AMD Phenom II X4 975 BE |
4/4 | 3.60 | N/A | N/A | 45nm (Deneb) |
258mm² | 2MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $195 |
| AMD Phenom II X4 970 BE |
4/4 | 3.50 | N/A | N/A | 45nm (Deneb) |
258mm² | 2MB L2 6MB L3 |
HT | Dual | 125W | AM3 | $175 |
| Intel Core i7 990X EE | 6/12 | 3.46 | 3.73 | N/A | 32nm (Westmere) |
239mm² | 1.5MB L2 12MB L3 |
QPI | Triple | 130W | LGA1366 | $999 |
| Intel Core i7 980X EE |
6/12 | 3.33 | 3.60 | N/A | 32nm (Westmere) |
239mm² | 1.5MB L2 12MB L3 |
QPI | Triple | 130W | LGA1366 | EOL** |
| Intel Core i7 970 |
6/12 | 3.20 | 3.46 | N/A | 32nm (Westmere) |
239mm² | 1.5MB L2 12MB L3 |
QPI | Triple | 130W | LGA1366 | $583 |
| Intel Core i7 950 |
4/8 | 3.06 | 3.33 | N/A | 45nm (Bloomfield) |
263mm² | 1MB L2 8MB L3 |
QPI | Triple | 130W | LGA1366 | $294 |
| Intel Core i7 930 |
4/8 | 2.80 | 3.06 | N/A | 45nm (Bloomfield) |
263mm² | 1MB L2 8MB L3 |
QPI | Triple | 130W | LGA1366 | EOL** |
| Intel Core i7 2600K |
4/8 | 3.40 | 3.80 | HD 3000 | 32nm (SandyBridge) |
216mm² | 1MBL2 8MB L3 |
DMI | Dual | 95W | LGA1155 | $317 |
| Intel Core i5 2500K |
4/4 | 3.30 | 3.70 | HD 3000 | 32nm (SandyBridge) |
216mm² | 1MB L2 6MB L3 |
DMI | Dual | 95W | LGA1155 | $216 |
| Intel Core i7 870 |
4/8 | 2.93 | 3.60 | N/A | 45nm (Lynnfield) |
296mm² | 1MB L2 8MB L3 |
DMI | Dual | 95W | LGA1156 | $294 |
| Intel Core i5 760 |
4/4 | 2.80 | 3.33 | N/A | 45nm (Lynnfield) |
296mm² | 1MB L2 8MB L3 |
DMI | Dual | 95W | LGA1156 | $205 |
| Intel Core i5 661 |
2/4 | 3.33 | 3.60 | HD 1000 | 32nm (Clarkdale) |
81mm² | 512KB L2 4MB L3 |
DMI | Dual | 87W | LGA1156 | $196 |
| * HT = HyperTransport, DMI = Direct Media Interface, QPI = QuickPath Interconnect ** EOL = End of life *** U.S. MSRP in 1000-unit tray quantities |
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The high-clocked chip sits alongside some illustrious CPU company, for the $199 asking price is the same as a six-core Phenom II X6 1090T's and, probably more importantly for readers looking at a new build, within the general proximity of Intel's very impressive Core i5 2500K - a Sandy Bridge chip based on newer 32nm technology.
Is AMD's quad-core line still worth considering? We find this out by running the 980 Black Edition through our benchmarking gauntlet.