AMD’s New Year CPUs: Athlon II X4 635, Athlon II X3 440, Athlon II X2 255, & Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Tested

To kick off the new year, today AMD is offering new chips for every one of their processor cores. For Deneb AMD offers the Phenom II X4 910e. Clocked at 2.6GHz with four cores and 6MB of L3 cache, the 910e boasts a TDP of just 65W. This puts it on equal footing with low-power Core 2 Q8200S and Q8400S CPUs that sell for considerably more than the 910e’s $169 list price.

For the performance-minded gamer or OC’er on a budget, Callisto comes back from the dead with the introduction of the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition. The 555 runs at 3.2GHz, 100MHz faster than the discontinued 550, with two cores and 6MB of L3 cache. Best part of all is that it’s based on AMD’s new C3 revision, this is the stepping that allowed us to crank the Phenom II X4 965 beyond 4GHz when OC’ing. And of course, as a Black Edition CPU, the 555 ships with an unlocked clock multiplier. Price is just $99.

Want more than two cores? Great. AMD’s bumped Propus up to 2.9GHz with the Athlon II X4 635. The chip lacks an L3 cache, relying on 2MB of L2 instead, and is priced at $119.


If $100+ is too much for you to spend, but you run apps that are multi-threaded, two cores just aren’t enough. In this case, AMD now offers their three-core Athlon II X3 440. This is a 3.0GHz CPU that’s based on AMD’s Rana core. The 440 is priced at $84.

The most affordable CPU AMD is launching today is the Athlon II X2 255. The 255 is a 3.1GHz processor with two processing cores and 2MB of L2 cache. It’s priced at $74.

Here are the speeds and feeds of all the CPUs AMD is launching today in a nice, handy chart:

AMD's Q1'2010 CPU Refresh
	Phenom II X4 910e	Phenom II X2 555 BE	Athlon II X4 635	Athlon II X3 440	Athlon II X2 255
Clock Speed	2.6GHz	3.2GHz	2.9GHz	3.0GHz	3.1GHz
L1 Cache Size	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)
L2 Cache Size	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	1MB per core (2MB total per CPU)
L3 Cache Size	6MB (shared)	6MB (shared)	None	None	None
Memory Controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller
Memory Controller Speed	2.0GHz	2.0GHz	2.0GHz	2.0GHz	2.0GHz
Memory Types Supported	DDR2-1066MHz and PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz	DDR2-1066MHz and PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz	DDR2-1066MHz and PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz	DDR2-1066MHz and PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz	DDR2-1066MHz and PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz
HyperTransport 3.0 Link	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)
Total Processor Bandwidth	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s
Packaging	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array
Nominal Voltage	0.85-1.25V	0.875-1.40V	0.875-1.425V	0.85-1.425V	0.85-1.425V
Max TDP	65W	80W	95W	95W	65W
Price	$169	$99	$119	$84	$74

Notes

100MHz speed bumps across the board for all of the CPUs AMD is launching today. And as an added bonus, AMD isn’t charging a premium for these CPUs – list prices are pretty much in line with AMD’s existing prices. So you’re paying the same amount of money, but getting an extra 100MHz.

Honestly we were most surprised by the re-emergence of the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition, as AMD discontinued its predecessor, the X2 550, as well as its triple-core cousin, the Phenom II X3 720 last fall.

The beauty of these CPUs is that they’re based on the same core AMD uses in their flagship Phenom II X4 965 CPU. As a result, the 555’s got a large L3 cache, enhancing its performance, and some enthusiasts have been lucky enough to reactivate the two cores AMD disables at the factory on these chips.

The arrival of faster Athlon II CPUs means you can pick up existing CPUs on the cheap. For instance, the Athlon II X4 630 drops in price to just $99 as a result of today’s CPU introductions.