After being thrashed by Intel ever since the introduction of their Core 2 Duo lineup in 2006, AMD was never able to get back on its feet. The infamous TLB bug gave the Phenom nightmares. Things started to improve with the B3 revision of Phenom. But the top end AMD processors still competed with Intel's mid range processors. Now, finally, AMD has released the Phenom II 45nm based processors. Along with Phenom II, AMD has launched its codename "Dragon" platforn, the successor to the Spider platform, which basically is a combination of an AMD chipset and processor and a ATi graphics card.
The Processors
Two new processors released under the Phenom II lineup are Phenom II X4 920 and Phenom II X4 940 which clock at 2.8 and 3.0 GHz respectively. They have 128 KB and 512 KB L1 and L2 cache respectively for each core and 6 MB L3 cache shared between all the cores.
Compatibility
The new Phenom II processors use socket AM3 which has 938 pins as opposed to 940 of socket AM2+. Wait! don't throw away your old AM2+ based motherboard yet! Unlike Intel's core i7, Phenom II is backward compatible with AM2+ socket. But AM2+ processors can't be used in AM3 based boards. The two extra pins in the former makes it impossible for you to pop a AM2+ processor in AM3 board. The first AM3 chipset, AMD 790 is yet to be released. Why? Because AM2+ boards don't support DDR3 memory. That's the reason you can't plug in an AM2+ processor in an AM3 board because of the lack of DDR3 memory controller.
Queen's CPU Test
At stock speed, QX9770 takes the cake because of large L2 cache and 1600MHz FSB. Overclocking X4 940 to 3.8GHz instantly shows a jump in scores.
Memory Test
Here, core i7 obviously wins due to DDR3 memory. We tested Phenom II with DDR2 memory because AMD 790 chipset is not released yet.
3DMark Vantage CPU Test
Here, Core i7 sails ahead of the phenom II.
Verdict
Phenom II takes on Core i7 valiantly and does well too. It is a great product and has plenty of headroom for overclocking. Don't be fooled by the numbers though, the AMD 790 chipset will definitely improve things for AMD and maybe, the X4 940 will surpass even Core i7 920.
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