AMD's latest Phenom 2 955 CPU sets sights on the Nehalem crown.
AMD's series of Phenom II processors have been some of the most interesting - and finicky - processors of the past few years. With what is essentially a very tweaked K8 architecture, there don't seem to be many changes on the surface; it's only when you delve below that you begin to see the difference. So, when AMD brought us this chip, we figured we'd go into it just a little closer.
(Cross)Fire-breathing Dragon
The original Phenom brought not much new to the scene - it was limited to DDR2 and was compatible with the same motherboards that were already on the market. Separating itself from this, the Phenom II supports an entire new platform, based on DDR3 memory instead. Thanks to a complete redesign of the core architecture, the memory controller has been updated for this new standard. The good news is that it's retained DDR2 compatibility, so no matter what memory you've got at hand you're covered.
This chip was intended to fit in with every other product AMD produces, like its 7-series chipsets, 4-series graphics cards (they'd love it if you bought a few of these for CrossFire), and overclocking software. Not only is it intended to play nicely with those, but it's also a whiz at overclocking at subzero temps, though unfortunately doesn't do quite so well on air.
Check out our gallery of pics, and click on to read more!
Issue: 133 | February, 2012