AMD is boasting the first sub-$100 Quad-Core CPU with the release of the Athlon II X4 (dubbed a "budget Phenom II X4" by one reviewer). To be precise, it is the X4 620, with a 2.6GHz core clock speed, and a X4 630, running at 2.8GHz, will appear later. The chip has 2MB of L2 cache, a 4000MHz HyperTransport bus, and uses the AM3 socket. Based on 1,000 unit quantities, it is priced at $99.
"By balancing the power of new AMD Athlon II X4 quad-core processors and the AMD 785G chipset featuring ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, AMD delivers smooth HD visuals2 and the foundation for a great Windows 7 experience," states the company in its announcement.
According to AMD, the 45nm processor, when used with AMD Mainstream Desktop Platform, can serve-up an amazing Blu-ray movie experience using less energy than a standard 75 watt light bulb4...
For a more objective review of the new chip see David Bayon's review on PC Pro:
"Called the Athlon II X4, it shares much of its architecture with the existing Phenom II. It's a Socket AM3 part with a 95W TDP (thermal design power), and its four cores each come with 512KB of L2 cache; the big difference from the Phenom II is the absence of L3 cache. This makes it more or less a budget Phenom II X4, so we were intrigued to see what effect that omission had on performance."
Also, read the TechSpot review by Steven Walton.
According to AMD, the 45nm processor, when used with AMD Mainstream Desktop Platform, can serve-up an amazing Blu-ray movie experience using less energy than a standard 75 watt light bulb4...
For a more objective review of the new chip see David Bayon's review on PC Pro:
"Called the Athlon II X4, it shares much of its architecture with the existing Phenom II. It's a Socket AM3 part with a 95W TDP (thermal design power), and its four cores each come with 512KB of L2 cache; the big difference from the Phenom II is the absence of L3 cache. This makes it more or less a budget Phenom II X4, so we were intrigued to see what effect that omission had on performance."
Also, read the TechSpot review by Steven Walton.
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