AMD's Refresh : Phenom II X4 910e, X2 555 BE; Athlon II X4 635, X3 440, X2 255

AMD has released 5 new CPUs for the New Year. Thanks to continued improvements in Global Foundries' 45nm process, AMD is delivering slight clock bumps for its dual, triple and quad-core processors while dropping prices of others.

The new line-up of processors AMD is introducing today consists of the following products...
Phenom II X2 555 - $99
Athlon II X4 635 - $119
Athlon II X3 440 - $84
Athlon II X2 255 - $74
Phenom II X4 910e - $169

The Phenom II X2 555 BE - AMD's Fastest Dual-Core

Remember the Phenom II X2 550 BE? That was a quad-core Phenom II with two cores disabled, but a full 6MB L3 cache. It was a beast of a dual-core CPU but AMD quietly pulled it off its price list months ago. You could still find the chips in retail and priced quite effectivley at $99, but the Core i3 530 manages to offer better performance at nearly the same price.

AMD's response? The Phenom II X2 555 BE. Still an unlocked Black Edition part, the 555 pushes its clock speed up to 3.2GHz. The extra 100MHz won't do much for performance but the price remains at $99. This chip now supports hardware C1E, like the first Athlon IIs. The hardware C1E means lower idle power consumption and it's courtesy of the new C3 Phenom II stepping.

Reviews :
AnandTech
Hot Hardware

Anandtech has unlocked the Phenom II X2 555 and managed to get it to a quad core at 3.2GHz. They used Gigabyte's GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard. In its BIOS there's an option for Advanced Clock Calibration. All you need to do is set EC Firmware Selection to Hybrid, and ACC to Auto:


Overclocking is affected. With only two cores active the Phenom II X2 555 BE could run at 3.8GHz without any additional voltage. With four cores active, that number drops down to 3.6GHz.

AMD Launches Phenom Black Edition

AMD's Phenom has been given new life today as a Black Edition. The Phenom Black Edition 9600 operates at a frequency of 2.3 GHz and makes use of 2MB of level two cache. Differentiating itself from the vanilla 9600, the Black Edition sports a fully unlocked multiplier. It might be assumed that these chips are binned better, allowing for higher clock speeds.

The Black Edition 9600 fills in the price point left vacant due to AMD's recent price cuts of the 9500 and 9600 Phenom processors. According to a statement by AMD, the AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition central processing unit has the same price as previously introduced AMD Phenom 9600, or $283 in 1000-unit quantities.

News:
X-bit labs

AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition Overclocking

Article from X-bit labs : Phenom CPU: Christmas Gift from AMD

Do you DARE ? Unleash the power of AMD

It has been a hot and wild speculation of what AMD meant by this:



Dare to feel your heart pound, your pulse race, and your breath catch in your throat? To open yourself up for a jolt of sheer adrenaline that just might eat you alive? To bring home a beast that’s leaping and snarling on the end of its leash? Like Mother Nature, AMD has a dark side — and on September 25, 2007 it will be revealed to the world. So what it really comes down to is...



Yesterday AMD unveiled the curtain of mystery with the introduction of the AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition processor.

It lets you take control of processor performance, and do it all on your own terms. The AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Black Edition processor 5000+ is a jolt of adrenaline for your PC. High-performance and dual-core, it delivers tunable performance with an all-too-tempting dark side.

A customizable clock multiplier helps you tackle multiple demanding applications like never before. Tunable performance means you can be as bold as you dare. The more-than-doable price means you can smash barriers, without breaking the bank.

Processors available soon at favorite online participant. Until then, get free downloads of special graphics, including chassis cling, stickers, tattoos, and more. In the meantime, customize your gear with Black Edition artwork (JPG poster).

AMDZone has learned that this processor will fit into the 65 Watt envelope and will cost $136. And here is the review from AMDZone.

HardSpell managed to overclock it until 3.5GHz.
Penstar Sys has reviewed the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition.

From Summer of AMD @ Japan

Yesterday (August 12, 2007), AMD held an event at Tokyo, Japan to demonstrate Phenom X4 operating at 3.0 GHz for Japanese public.



More info click here:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20070811/etc_aniki3ghz.html
http://journal.mycom.co.jp/news/2007/08/12/001/

In an unexpected move, AMD also introduced the new AMD Athlon64 X2 6400+ Black Edition. This is a new model in a cool mysterious box, operating at 3.2 GHz, L2 cache of 1 MB x 2, 90nm SOI for AM2.



More info here:
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/056/56915/

Review from AMDZone