Phenom, Efficient at Full Capacity

The Phenom’s energy consumption during standby is disappointing: it uses twice as much energy as the Dual-Core Athlon 64. An average user switching from one of the fastest Athlon 64 processors to the Phenom won’t notice a difference in power costs, though.

When fully loaded, compared to the Athlon 64, the Phenom’s performance-energy intake ratio is better. That is, if programs made for four core processors are being used.

The Sempron 64 is an absolute energy saver when used at full capacity. The Athlon X2 BE processor remains unchallenged at the top when it comes to standby in Cool’n’Quiet mode. The 4000e series Athlon X2 processors can’t keep up with the savings that the Athlon X2 BE processors offer.

In the event that Cool’n’Quiet mode cannot be turned on, the Athlon X2 BE and the Sempron 64 suffer only minor losses. The classic Athlon 64 X2 will, in the worst case, lose about as much electricity as it takes to light up a room.

For HTPC and multimedia computers that save energy, we recommend a dual-core processor from the Athlon X2 BE line, or one of the new 4000e series Athlon X2 processors. If the computer is left on all the time, about $231.00 (150 Euros) per year in electrical costs can be expected.

When it comes to energy consumption, the K9A2 Platinum motherboard with the 790 FX chipset from MSI is superior to Asus and Gigabyte. We recommend the MSI K9A2 Platinum motherboard for users who want to take advantage of the energy intake of an AMD system while using the 790FX.