Conclusion
Writing this article covering AMD's Phenom II X2 555 introduction and including Intel's Pentium G6950 (we knew that this would be a hot comparison, pardon the pun) was a humbling experience. This is the first time I've committed processorcide with an overly-aggressive combination of settings, so we'll need to be more careful with voltages on the integration-rich Clarkdale-based CPUs.
As for the results of the Pentium G6950 overclock, yes they were impressive, but don't forget that they're beyond the realm of what this CPU could sustain before succumbing to our aggressive settings. The results are interesting in theory, but not as a solid representation of what our retail sample could do and certainly not at settings we'd recommend. The Phenom II X2 555, on the other hand, is still running cool.
With the knowledge that we're going to have a second try at this in the near future, the data gives us an indication of what to expect. The Phenom II X2 555 is very easy for enthusiasts to work with. Its stock speed is fast enough to provide great performance (for a dual-core CPU), its price is easy to stomach, and its unlocked clock multiplier makes overclocking a simpler affair for enthusiasts.
At stock speeds, the Phenom II X2 555 is clearly superior to Intel's Pentium G6950 in games, and it wins out in a majority of applications we test. It even comes close to the Core i5-750 in graphics-bound games, as high resolutions transfer the performance burden onto today's fastest GPUs. The only downside is that its stock clock rate is already so high as to limit overclockers to less margin than Intel's 45nm and 32nm CPUs. But 4 GHz is nothing to complain about for AMD's 45nm process, and employing cheap air cooling.
So, what about the Pentium G6950 we've been so anxious to test? At its stock clock rate, the gaming price/performance value for this processor is disappointing. Things aren't all bad, though. Application performance is in the same league as AMD's Phenom II X2 555, despite its 2.8 GHz clock. And even though our overclocking results have been invalidated by our retail CPU's untimely death, we must acknowledge that there is potential here. Given Intel's positioning of the Pentium G6950, this is clearly a part the company wants to push in the channel for its sub-$100 price, but not necessarily to power users. How far can the thing reliably go, though? We're going to try to answer that for you in the near future.
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Really looking forward to the follow up article. Very impressed with the performance of the AMD. I was expecting it to get trounced here but it certainly held it's own. I thought the gaming benchmarks were a little unfair to say the least, but the Phenom did well.
Would be nice to see a comparison with the i3 530 - I know it's ~15 more expensive but would be good to see how hyperthreading affects the picture. Perhaps throw in the Athlon II X4 635 for a similar priced comparison and see how the extra real cores - less cache tradeoff goes.
Would be nice to see a comparison with the i3 530 - I know it's ~15 more expensive but would be good to see how hyperthreading affects the picture. Perhaps throw in the Athlon II X4 635 for a similar priced comparison and see how the extra real cores - less cache tradeoff goes.
We'll be comparing all the new sub-$200 CPUs in a separate article in a few weeks, stay tuned!
the Phenom looks awesome for the money , now I will have to think long and hard about buying it over the 620
One comparison with the I3 serie would have been better. This x2 is really good for gaming in addition his price is really great
QUOTE: "The Core i7-750 has a nice lead in most of the benchmarks, but is surpassed slightly by the overclocked Phenom II X2 555 in the productivity test."
Are you referencing a graph not included in this article? The PCMark test describes a Core i5-750, and not a Core i7-750 as you mention in the quote above. Which is it?
thanks, wery helpful
Despite the comparatively older (but refined) core of the Phenom, together with it's L3 cache drawing more power..4GHz? I'm really impressed with that achievement, and it's only using cheap cooling. Just imagine what's going to happen when the manufacturing process shrinks even further..AMD's longevity and commitment to reliability and performance is once again demonstrated.
Not saying the Intel chip is a bad product, either. I'm sure these teething problems will be ironed out just that for anyone with an AMD board and say, an aTI 700 series chipset I bet this chip would seem like a very tempting offer at the moment despite the large (and sometimes confusing), range of options.
It doesn't seem that long ago since we were breaking the 3GHz barrier, and still within the same range we're hitting 4GHz without breaking a sweat..sure, not all CPU's are the same but that has impressed me considering the components used.
I've personally chosen the quad-core route (Athlon II 620 'Deneb' core), because I want cheap and fast quad-core performance for heavy multi-tasking and video transcoding. There's always the potential to unlock certain memory and overclock to get even more performance.
I am another one impressed with AMD on this particulr instance. Having used chips from both manufacturers, when it comes to choosing a chip for me, it only comes down to price/performance, as I imagine is the case for most too.
For the follow up, I feel it would be best if the Intel chip is overclocked to the same as the AMD chip as this will provide the best comparison. Even if the Intel may OC by a further 200Mhz or so, I imagine 4Ghz may be the point where users feel most comfortable. May be.
Otherwise a nice article, and it's certainly nice to see focus on products other than very high end ones, which are out of the reach for many of us!