14 DAY TRIAL // Intel's Clarkdale central processing units were launched around the beginning of the month and it seems that AMD isn't about to leave the low-end and mainstream markets fall under the Santa Clara chip maker's monopoly. The CPU and GPU maker has just introduced a group of processors of its own, also beckoning at entry-level and mainstream systems with their prices ranging between $74 and $169.
The four new chips are largely meant to balance the CPU offering from Advanced Micro Devices. The new lineup is made up of three Athlon II central processing units, as well as the Phenom II X4 910e and the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition. The releasing of the new lineup also brought about the renaming of the quad-core Athlon II X4 620 to the Athlon II X4 630.
The Athlon II X4 635 is a quad-core chip with a speed of 2.9GHz. It has an L1 cache of 512KB and an L2 cache of 2MB. The second in the line, Athlon II X2 255, is a dual-core processor with a clock of 3.1GHz, an L1 cache of 256KB and an L2 cache of 2MB. Lastly, the triple-core Athlon II X3 435 has a speed of 3GHz and L1 and L2 cache memories of 384KB and 1.5MB, respectively.
The Phenom II X4 910e and Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition units both have an L3 cache of 6MB and L2 cache memories of 2MB and 1MB, respectively. While the quad-core Phenom II X4 910e has a clock of 2.6GHz and a 512KB L1 cache, the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition processor is described as the fastest dual core desktop processor, with a speed of 3.2GHz and an unlocked multiplier for overclokers. Its L1 cache is of 256KB.
The Athlon II X4 635, Athlon II X3 440 and Athlon II X2 255 processors have starting prices of $119, $84 and $74, respectively. The Phenom II X4 910e is priced at $169 and the Phenom II X2 555 carries a price tag of only $99. In addition, the renamed Athlon II X4 620 (now the Athlon II X4 630) is retaining its price of $99. All units should reach stores shortly.
Several product reviews have already been published at ExtremeTech, HotHardware (AMD Phenom II X2 555 and Athlon II X4 635) and Legit Reviews (AMD Phenom II X4 910e).