AMD’s AM3 CPUs: Phenom II X4 810 and Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition

Phenom II X4 810 and Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition

Top and bottom of the new AM3 CPUs

It’s been just 30 days since AMD launched the first wave of Phenom II CPUs to the world, but already the company is eager to introduce the public to more processors –including the first Phenom II CPUs to utilize AMD’s brand new AM3 socket. "Why is AMD so eager to get more processors out the door" you ask? Simple, it’s all about improving the company’s bottom line.

AMD is trying to ramp their new 45-nm manufacturing process as aggressively as possible, even if that means they have to take a hit on existing 65-nm Phenom processors in the process. Phenom has never been a hot seller for AMD anyway, and all indications are that Phenom II should address this. Already Phenom II has picked up numerous design wins, including Dell’s latest XPS 625 gaming PC. AMD’s new Phenom II CPUs deliver improved performance over their predecessors, run cooler, and are cheaper for AMD to manufacture. In the end it makes sound business sense for AMD to sweep out the old parts as quickly as possible and bring in the new.

As a result, today AMD is launching five new AM3 processors. All of these chips are priced below $200, making them excellent values for the hardware enthusiast on a budget (and who isn’t nowadays). Cheaper CPUs is precisely what we asked for in the conclusion of our Phenom II X4 940 article, so it’s great to see AMD respond so quickly.

Despite their new AM3 interface, the processors are backward-compatible with AMD’s infrastructure of existing AM2+ motherboards and DDR2 memory. All you’ll need to do is update your motherboard’s BIOS, and you’ll be good to go. In addition, the CPUs are DDR3-ready for Socket AM3 motherboards, with DDR3 memory speeds up to 1333MHz fully supported.

Unfortunately, the new AM3 processors aren’t clocked as high as their AM2+ counterparts launched last month, with speeds topping out at just 2.6GHz for quad-core models, but they do correct one minor gripe we had with the AM2-based Phenom II 920 and 940: memory controller and HyperTransport speeds. The integrated memory controller (MC) and HyperTransport (HT) link in the Phenom II 920 and 940 CPUs were limited to speeds of 1.8GHz, whereas previous Phenom 9850 and 9950 CPUs boasted speeds of up to 2.0GHz for the MC and HT link.

AMD’s AM3 Phenom II CPUs correct this issue, fully supporting memory controller and HyperTransport speeds of 2.0GHz. In addition, the new AM3 CPUs all boast a TDP of just 95W, making them more energy efficient than their predecessors.

So what’s launching today? Have a look at the following chart:

AMD Phenom II Lineup
	Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition	Phenom II X4 920	Phenom II X4 910	Phenom II X4 810	Phenom II X4 805	Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition	Phenom II X3 710
Clock Speed	3.0GHz	2.8GHz	2.6GHz	2.6GHz	2.5GHz	2.8GHz	2.6GHz
L1 Cache Size	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)	64KB instruction+64KB data per core (512KB per CPU)
L2 Cache Size	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (2MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (1.5MB total per CPU)	512KB per core (1.5MB total per CPU)
L3 Cache Size	6MB (shared)	6MB (shared)	6MB (shared)	4MB (shared)	4MB (shared)	6MB (shared)	6MB (shared)
Memory Controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller
Memory Controller Speed	1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management	2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
Memory Types Supported	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333MHz)	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333MHz)
HyperTransport 3.0 Link	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.6GHz full duplex (1.8GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.6GHz full duplex (1.8GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)
Total Processor Bandwidth	31.5 GB/s	31.5 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s	33.1 GB/s
Packaging	Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)	Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)
Nominal Voltage	0.875 - 1.5V	0.875 - 1.5V	0.875-1.425V	0.875-1.425V	0.875-1.425V	0.850-1.425V	0.875-1.425V
Max Ambient Case Temp	62 degrees Celsius	62 degrees Celsius	71 degrees Celsius	71 degrees Celsius	71 degrees Celsius	73 degrees Celsius	73 degrees Celsius
Max TDP	125W	125W	95W	95W	95W	95W	95W
Price	$225	$195	Available in tray only	$175	Available in tray only	$145	$125

Notes

As you can see, besides introducing a new 910 model number clocked at 2.6GHz, AMD is also launching two new 800-series quad-core parts, the 2.6GHz 810 and the 2.5GHz 805, as well as two new triple-core Phenom II X3 models: the 720 Black Edition and the 710 clocked at 2.8GHz and 2.6GHz respectively. The new 800-series parts ship with less L3 cache than their 900-series counterparts -- 4MB of L3 versus the 6MB L3 found on the 900-series parts, but otherwise they’re similar.

Surprisingly enough, the triple-core parts ship with the same 6MB of L3 cache as AMD’s 900-series CPUs, this makes them a compelling value if you primarily deal with single and dual-threaded apps given their sub-$150 price tags and relatively high clock speeds (if you recall, AMD’s Phenom X3 8750 topped out at just 2.4GHz).

Unfortunately we don’t have pricing on AMD’s 910 and 805 models at the time of writing, although you can always check out AMD’s processor pricing page for the latest info.