AMD's Phenom II Takes On Intel's Core 2 Processors

(PhysOrg.com) -- AMD has added two new Phenom II desktop chips to their product line. The Phenom II Dragon line desktop processors use AMD's new 45-nanometer technology and consists both of a triple-core (X3) and quad-core (X4) components.

The Phenom II processors are designed to fit in an AM2+ or AM3 sockets and supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory technology. The X4 and X3 have 512K L2 cache per core, and up to 2MB of L3 cache shared by each core.

AMD Phenom II desktop chips are price completive with Intel's Core 2 Duo and Quad chips. The Phenom II X3 720 (2.8Ghz) Black Edition processor is priced at $145, while Intel's Core 2 Duo (dual-core 3Ghz) E8400 processor, sells for $163. The Phenom II X4 810 processor (2.6GHz) is priced at $175 and Intel's Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor (2.33GHz) is priced at $163.

AMD Phenom II desktop chips are currently available in five versions:

AMD Phenom II X3 710 - (2.6GHz with 7.5MB of cache)
AMD Phenom II X3 720 - (2.8GHz with 7.5MB of cache)
AMD Phenom II X4 805 - (2.5GHz with 6MB of cache)
AMD Phenom II X4 810 - (2.6GHz with 6MB of cache)
AMD Phenom II X4 910 - (2.6GHz with 8MB of cache)

Fine-tuning in the core and cache allow AMD to offer better performance at similar pricing to their earlier chips.

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