AMD Phenom II chips outmanoeuvre Intel in price and performance

by Stevie Smith - Feb 9 2009, 13:00

American chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has this week rolled out a hefty five new additions to its existing Phenom II desktop processor portfolio, which includes a brand new 45nm triple-core offering.

According to Califorinia-based AMD, its five-pronged hardware refresher is designed to widen the scope of its desktop line by delivering a much more flexible selection of price points.

The five new Phenom II chip entrants include three quad-core platforms, which are the 2.6GHz X4 810, the 2.6GHz X4 910, and the 2.5GHz X4 805. The inbound triple-core chips are the 2.8GHz X3 720 (Black Edition), and the 2.6GHz X3 710.

While presently reliant on AM2+ motherboards and DDR2 memory, all of AMD’s new Phenom IIs are equipped with AM3 socket technology, meaning future support for DDR3 memory is in place just as soon as compatible motherboards become available, reports VNUnet.

AMD, traditionally a somewhat cheaper source of chip technology than main market rival Intel Corp., is pushing its new processors as faster alternatives to comparable Intel devices.

For example, according to SysMark 2007 and PCMark Vantage benchmark evaluations, the Phenom II X4 810 delivers a six to nine percent performance increase over the Core 2 Quad 8200, although AMD’s hardware breaks with the norm by coming in slightly more expensive at $175 USD as opposed to Intel’s $163 USD.

Similarly, AMD’s new triple-core additions offer improved performance of 13 to 35 percent over Intel’s dual-core processors, but also come complete with an accompanying price advantage thanks to the $145 USD Phenom X3 720 (Black Edition) undercutting Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8400 by a clear $20 USD.  

Adding to the draw of the X3 720, the application of AMD Overdrive software will also further increase its attributed performance thanks to easy overclocking access.

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