AMD has just outed a selection of new Athlon II procs, which do little to help it reclaim
the performance crown, but will be of interest to anyone who likes to keep things minimal -- whether we're talking about prices or temperatures. Starting at $69 per chip (when bought in bulk) with the 2.7GHz dual-core X2 235e and topping out at $143 for the 2.3GHz quad-core X4 605e, AMD's new e-tagged processors operate within a 45W thermal envelope, as opposed to the relatively standard 65W TDP. The Sunnyvale outfit makes some ill-advised claims of "up to 75 percent" better performance versus comparable Intel CPUs -- the small print tells us that number is derived from 3DMark Vantage while testing with different GPUs -- but we suppose until the
Thuban six-core shows up, AMD will have to take performance gains from wherever it can get 'em, including its own imagination.
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AMD 's new Athlon II processors aim to go easy on the power, your wallet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AMD has always been one to play the pricing card in its never-ending tussle with Intel, but we get the feeling this introduction may pack more of a punch than any before it. It's a simple concept -- the $99 quad-core
CPU -- and given just how in love we Americans are with value menus, you can bet new PC builders will at least give the new Athlon II X4 620 ($99) and 630 ($122) a look. Reviews around the web essentially came to the same conclusion: it's not the fastest quad-core chip around, and the lack of L3 certainly doesn't make it the most attractive, but the 620 somehow manages to compete with all of the processors in its price range while being the cheapest. The "cut-down Phenom II," as
HotHardware calls it, suffers a bit on the gaming side due to the L3 removal, but in general scenarios it was plenty potent. Hit the links below if you feel like digging in way, way deeper.
Read - HotHardware
Read - TechSpot
Read - MaximumPC
Read - PC Perspective
Read - TweakTown
Read - PC Pro
Filed under: Desktops
AMD pops out sub-$100 quad-core Athlon II X4 CPU: review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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