AMD Phenom II X2 550 and Athlon II X2 250 preview(with benchmarks)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Athlon X2 is also a native dual core so it means that it is cheaper to produce and will be more efficient. Hopefully some energy efficient dual cores will also come out too.

From what I read it has a similar number of transistors to the E5200(234 million vs 228 million) too!

Here is another review:

http://www.techspot.com/review/171-a...nx2/page3.html

[scaryjim]

The Athlon X2 is also a native dual core

I thought it was a quad-core base with the L3 cache missed off, rather than a native dual-core...?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I thought it was a quad-core base with the L3 cache missed off, rather than a native dual-core...?

The Phenom II X2 is the quad core part sold as a dual core.

Tom's Hardware Guide unlocked it to a quad core:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...i-x2,2324.html

[AntiTalent]

I thought it was a quad-core base with the L3 cache missed off, rather than a native dual-core...?

I was under the impression that they were like the X3's quads with disabled cores, and AMD was doing this since their yields are pretty good.

I think a X2 550's been unlocked to 4 cores using the ACC trick, though of course nothings' guaranteed, as these chips are meant to have defective cores, but apparently some of AMD's yields have been too good.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...ition-surprise
N.b. Inq is a so-so source really, and definitely biased, so bear thta in mind.. but quite interesting if true,

quad core Ph II for how much?

EDIT: Gazzumped by Cat The Fifth!

[pharm]

The Phenom II X2 is the quad core part sold as a dual core.

Tom's Hardware Guide unlocked it to a quad core:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...i-x2,2324.html

Want.



(£80 for the Phenom II X2, with a fighting chance of getting 4 cores sounds like a steal. Power consumption with all 4 cores enabled could be an issue though: at least it's a black edition so you can play with the clocks to hit your personal sweet spot...)

Phil

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Another favourable review for the Phenom II X2 and Athlon II X2:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/athlon...50-be-review/1

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Some more good reviews:

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ii_250/12.html

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...pii550/12.html

[sammorris]

Why has the E6300 name been re-used on a CPU with a 933mhz higher clock speed? That didn't ake much sense to me... I'm curious to see how well the Athlon and Phenom 2 X2 perform. They had better be leaps and bounds ahead of the 7750 and 7850 to justify that price.

[GeorgeStorm]

The 550 is the next best cpu, taken the crown from the 720 in my opinion
Chance to be unlocked to 4 cores, highly overclockable.
Its challenging the e8400 at almost half the price!

[ixos]

If not overclocking would one be better off going with a 785G Mobo and an AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz ? Or would the AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition be a much better choice?

I am looking for a new CPU (AMD), Motherboard with Onboard graphics and DDR3 Ram.

[Blaineoliver]

What are you using it for?

[ixos]

Lots of uses. Just want the best bang for buck. I don't game much these days so no need for a separate Graphics card. So, what would you recommend?

[Blaineoliver]

If you do rendering or anything that is multithreaded, triple core is the way forward. For pure web browsing and general tasks, i would go for thr 550 due to lower power and higher clocks.

[sammorris]

Agreed, the 550 is by far the better CPU overall, but of course it is only a dual core, so in fully multi-threaded programs, the Tri or Quad cores will fare much better.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would personally go for the 65w 2.5ghz Phenom II X3 705e which is around £92.

[sammorris]

I see the 705 has a 2Ghz HT instead of the 4Ghz the 550 has. Which CPUs have it and what impact does it have on performance?