AMD Phenom II X6 1075T & X4 970 Review

Intel is known for delivering top notch CPU performance for a long time, but AMD also has very powerful offerings for the enthusiast crowd, thanks to their high stock frequency and number of cores. This week's launch of AMD's new Phenom II and Athlon II CPUs serves to further increase performance at the given price points: 185$ and 250$.

The Deneb flagship is getting replaced after a few months with a new one: the Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition. This processor isn't merely the same die clocked 100MHz further. Even though the X4 965 C3 can already easily run at 3.5GHz on stock voltage, the new flagship is said to have a better overclocking potential and run a bit cooler. It isn't the fruit of a new stepping though, but merely an amelioration in the manufacturing process.

In fact, GlobalFoundries uses Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM), which consists of monitoring the health of microprocessors in production by first collecting data from the toolsets, and then analyzing it in real-time. APM automatically and consistently modifies the processing recipe used at each tool according to the previously collected data to minimize defects and ensure that the resulting products operate according to targeted specifications.

So what will this bear? According to Neoseeker's testing, the hexa-core Thuban dies clock better than the Deneb ones. Will the manufacturing ameliorations allow the quad-cores to match the hexa-cores?

To make room for the new Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition, AMD has recently cut prices further, which at the same time retains competitiveness against Intel. The previous Deneb flagship, the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, has been brought down to $165, whereas the new flagship will sell for its previous price.

As for the Phenom II X6 1075T, its price fits right in between the X6 1055T and the flagship X6 1090T Black Edition, as does its frequency; clocked at an even 3GHz, it sells for $250


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