Energy friendly computer hardware tends to cut out features or run things a bit slower in order to get their power usage in check. Then there are those cases where they cherry-pick the best of the best in order to make things run quickly and with less of a power load. This is one such case,
The 65W TDP revision chip also lowers heat output, boding well for overclocking potential. While the Phenom II X4 910e is not one of AMD’s Black Edition processors, it’s still possible to overclock its core operating frequency. PCSTATS will see just how much we can crank up the Phenom II X4 910e processor a little later on in this review.
A powerful option for those small form factor PCs.
Computer processors can be an expensive proposition to make as the demands of power users force the chip makers to come up with designs that use more and more die-grabbing cache to feed the increasing core counts. The bigger the chip die the more it will cost.
There are no cutbacks in the feature support compartment for AMD’s new Athlon II Series. It supports everything Phenom II supports, including MMX, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A instructions, Enhanced 3DNow!, NX bit, AMD64, Cool’n'Quiet, and AMD-V technology. Many companies will be happy to see virtualization support in a cheap quad core processor. Intel made a mistake with the Q8200, which doesn’t have support for Intel VT, but that’s now corrected by the recently introduced Q8400 model. The recommended price for Athlon II X4 620 stops at $99, which makes it the first quad-core processor to be launched under $100 mark.
A nice performer if you have a habit of running multiple programs but don’t want to go for that high-price upgrade.
September 16th, 2009by Rafael HernandezNo comments
As with most technologies the more time passes the cheaper things tend to get, for some products that day can’t seem to come around soon enough but when the day finally arrives it’s about as sweet as any other for those seeking an upgrade.
This isn’t a harvested Phenom II nor is it a pair of Athlon II X2s, instead it looks like we have a brand new die on our hands (some Athlon II X4s will be crippled Phenom IIs but AMD insists that the new die will be used). The Athlon II X4 has four cores on a single die, but unlike the Athlon II X2 each core only has a 512KB L2 per core. You can tell by the die shot that the core-to-cache ratio is much higher than on the X2
A very capable processor for the price which should make the budget conscious out there happy.
Moving down the ladder we have the Phenom II X4 965, which is the current AMD flagship processor. The Phenom II X4 965 operates at 3.40GHz, and with a retail price tag of $250, it’s quite a good value option. Also worth keeping in mind is the Phenom II X4 955, which is virtually the same processor at a 24% discount. Both are “Black Edition” processors featuring unlocked multipliers, so by simply increasing the multiplier of the X4 955 by one notch, you get the 3.40GHz of the Phenom II X4 965.
Whatever your choice there’s plenty of performance to be had on the cheap.
Processor launches are a funny thing. There’s a whole lot of hoopla over the high end chips with all manner of benchmarks and quotes on how their latest product will make things run faster, cooler, and improve your Crysis framerate all at a low low price. That is of course if your chip is even noticed at all.
AMD’s Athlon lineup was, at one point in time, their flagship consumer processor, that banner was passed along to the Phenom lineup leaving the poor old Athlon brand to take over the low-end processor branding duties.
Of course there’s always room to move up in the world.
The last thing that needs covered here is the potential TDP of these products. Since the Propus core is around 60% of the size of the Phenom II, we can expect the lower 2.4 GHz versions to be around 65 watts TDP, and potentially as low as 45 watts TDP. The higher 3 GHz version would probably hit around 89 watts in the worst case scenario. Something else to consider is that with the continual advances on GF’s 45 nm process, and the lack of large caches on the chip, we may even see TDPs dip into the 75 watt area for a 3 GHz part.
A cheaper and energy efficient quad-core for the desktop? It sounds like a tweaker’s dream chip no matter how you look at it.
Normally the thought of a chip swap brings all manner of fear and dread for most end-users let alone anyone managing your servers but AMD has put together a video to show you just how easy it is.
Follow along as they upgrade a server from plain old Barcelona based chips to fancy, 45nm, Shanghai quad cores. Not only will it speed up your computing tasks it’ll also save you a bit at the power meter. Enjoy!
Trying to put together a computer that’s eco-friendly, or low noise, means you’re going to have to give up a bit of performance for quite a bit of power saving. Case in point are the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S and Q9550S CPUs, they aren’t the speed demons that the company’s Core i7 chips are but they are a much easier pair of chips to handle power and heat output wise.
So if you’re ready to build your own eco-friendlier quad-core system you may want to have a look at HotHardware’s review of the two CPUs. Here’s a peek:
The new low power Core 2 Quad S-series initially consists of 3 chips, the Q9550S, Q9400S and the Q8200S. A fourth chip, the Q8400S will be arriving on April 19th. It will be a higher clocked version of the Q8200S and it will offer the same clock frequency as the Q9400S. Just like the Q8200S, the Q8400S will only have 4MB of L2 cache and no support for Intel’s virtualization tech. It will initially be offered for an MSRP of $245 and it should fit in well between the Q8200S and the Q9400S. A standard, full-power 95W model, the Q8400, will also be launched at the same time for $183.
Living out your days waiting for your computer to finish up its workload? Having trouble keeping up with the enemy in the latest games? If you’re still toiling under the constraints of a dual core, or *gasp* single core*, processor you may want to take a look at the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400. The chip boasts a 2.66GHz clock rate, 6MB of cache, and the highly sought after 45nm die. Legit Reviews has the low-down on the processor and what it can do for your computer:
The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 was significantly faster than the Q8200, so
if you are building or updating an existing system the extra cache and
clock frequency seem well worth the extra price. The Intel Core 2 Quad
Q9400 is a great performing mainstream quad-core part that has decent
thermals and great overclocking potential. The x8 multiplier allows for
great overclocking as a single BIOS setting change (increasing your FSB
to 400MHz) will take the Q9400 up to 3.2GHz with no problems at all.
It’s no Core i7 but it’s one of the higher-end chips from the last generation so it should be good for quite a while longer and the added monetary benefits of extending your system’s life span should make you feel fiscally sound.
The multi-core approach has allowed for some impressive number crunching gains, unfortunately the larger these chips get the more power hungry they are. Intel has gone through the trouble of binning their chips and has put out the Core 2 Quad Q9550S which does its magic in a measley 65W thermal envelope. AnandTech has a peek at this niche chip:
The price premium for these new S-parts is
huge. The Q9550S costs $103 more than the non-S, the Q9400S will set
you back another $107 and the Q8200S is the most affordable with only
an $82 premium. Note that in the case of the Q9550S and Q9400S you’re
actually more expensive than the entry level Core i7-920.
Intel
achieves these lower TDPs by running at a lower core voltage. With a
mature enough manufacturing process, which Intel’s 45nm process is,
it’s quite possible to produce CPUs that run much cooler than average
and on a lower voltage. CPU power varies with the square of the
voltage, so any savings in voltage can result in a non-linear decrease
in power consumption.
If you’re in need of good performance in a small form factor this might be the chip of choice.
Energy friendly computer hardware tends to cut out features or run things a bit slower in order to get their power usage in check. Then there are those cases where they cherry-pick the best of the best in order to make things run quickly and with less of a power load. This is one such case,
