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AMD has bumped up it’s line of desktop microprocessors with the introduction of a new set of Athlon II processors, including the first Athlon triple-cores. Triple-core processors, obviously, fill the gap between dual-core and quad-core versions, and, according to Nathan Brookwood of the market research firm Insight 64, offer more power than dual-cores while costing less than quad-cores, making them attractive choices for desktop makers.
The new processors include Athlon II X2s in 2.7GHz and 2.8 GHz, four Athlon II X3s ranging from 2.2 GHz up to 2.9 GHz, and Athlon II X4s at 2.2 GHz and 2.3 GHz. All of the processors pull 45 watts, except for the 2.7 GHz and 2.9 GHz X3s which draw 95 watts. All of the new Athlon IIs are manufactured using 45-nanometer dies.
AMD claims the 2.8 GHz X2 will perform up to 70 percent better on media and entertainment benchmarks than an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400, while the 2.9 GHz X3 shows a 75 percent performance jump over the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500. Overall, AMD says these new processors will offer “superior competitive value for mainstream consumers in productivity, HD video, and 3D gaming.”
Image Credit: AMD
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DBsantos77
October 20, 2009 at 5:09pm
So apparently TomsHardware [http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3,2452-12.html] says that the Athlon X3's 630 OC'd to 3.7 outperform a stock Phenom II 720 X3. The hell is up with that? This just made my upgrade look bad. I ordered a PII 720 :/ ............................:(
-Santos
QUINTIX256
October 20, 2009 at 10:01pm
In benches that work on small sets of data for relatively long periods of time, having a L3 cache doesn't matter much.
I'm not sure what Tom's Hardware did for their benchmarking. For a review/benchmark article it is incredibly terse. In real world applications that do a whole lot of cache trashing, having a L3 cache matters a lot.
Also, in regard to overclocking, the quality of the silicon matters more than the amount of heat/power that is being dealt with. Your mileage will always vary. I think Don Woligroski picked a rather extreme case.
You can have your recession. I'm not participating.
DBsantos77
October 20, 2009 at 11:19pm
Ahh sweet! Thanks for clearing that up man :) I'll stop bashing my head now.
-Santos
skhills
October 20, 2009 at 3:19pm
Did you also hear about those new core i7 chips that offer 1200% performance improvement over those Athlon 64 FX procs from 4 years ago...
QUINTIX256
October 20, 2009 at 10:02pm
Have you been to a local retailer as of late? Just about all intel desktops have Core 2's, not Core i5 or i7.
You can have your recession. I'm not participating.
MaxFan
October 20, 2009 at 1:02pm
yaaawwwwnnnn! Oh, sorry did something happen at AMD? Triple core desktops that barely compete with the core 2 Duo's from a couple years ago? You woke me up for that?
