Thanks to a larger L3 cache and IPC tweaks integrated into the architecture, Phenom II delivered on average roughly 4-8% more performance than Phenom on a clock-for-clock basis for the most part in our testing. In some apps it’s a little less, and others a little more. The biggest addition for enthusiasts is definitely Phenom II’s new 45-nm manufacturing process.
The new process allows AMD to scale to dramatically higher clock frequencies than Phenom. Launch speeds top out at 3.0GHz, and we managed to OC our CPU over 3.7GHz! Getting Phenom 9950 to 3.0GHz wasn’t impossible without ACC (last year we managed 3.05GHz with our chip), but you needed a little bit of luck and good cooling. With Phenom II a 400MHz OC is nothing; a few lucky souls may even be able to hit 3.8 or 3.9GHz with the best air cooling.
When compared to Intel’s Penryn line of CPUs, the closest direct competitor to the Phenom II 940 Black Edition is Intel’s Q9400. Here the Phenom II trades wins with the Intel CPU, with each processor winning tests in our suite of benchmarks, but the Q9400 runs faster overall. It’s a much closer fight than where AMD sat a year ago however, but considering this, AMD may want to shave a little off the top of the Phenom II 940’s price. $250 looks about right in our opinion (Intel’s Q9400 officially lists for $266, making it $9 cheaper than the Phenom II 940 as of right now). AMD could then reestablish the $275 price tag when DDR3-based AM3 arrives. It should run a little faster than today’s AM2-based 940 CPU, and should be able to push ahead of the Q9400 in a couple of the closer benchmarks.
Honestly though variety is probably our biggest disappointment with today’s launch. As good as the AM2-based Phenom II CPUs are, we wish AMD offered more variety in the Phenom II lineup right now. A 2.6GHz sub-$200 SKU would be awesome for the gamer on a budget, while a high performance range of Phenom II models with 1MB of L2 cache per core and a really large 12MB L3 could probably take on Intel’s $300+ Penryn processors. On the other hand though considering today’s economy, AMD is probably taking the right approach by focusing on the $100-$300 mainstream sweet spot of the market.
In summary Phenom II isn’t going to blow away the CPU world like Conroe Core 2 did in 2006, but just as the Phenom 9850 and 9950 Black Edition CPUs gave AMD a very competent competitor to Core 2 Quad Q6600, Phenom II 940 and 920 give AMD a serious challenger to low-end quad-core Penryn CPUs like the Q9400. We’re not getting a next-generation performance leap over Phenom just yet, but thanks to its higher clock speeds and larger cache Phenom II is a significant improvement over Phenom 9950 and will get even sweeter when AMD moves to DDR3 and AM3. The frequency scaling is also good. AMD hasn’t quite caught up to Intel in this department, but they have narrowed the gap significantly with Phenom II.
We’re a little surprised Intel has chosen not to respond to Phenom II just yet. If they don’t watch out, AMD could win back some of the enthusiasts who may have planned to go Intel with their next upgrade. AMD’s certainly got the more stable platform in terms of providing a solid upgrade path; AM2+ and AM3 CPUs are interchangeable with both platforms. With Nehalem eventually relying on two different sockets, and LGA775 finally coming to an end, AMD’s platform roadmap is definitely more stable.
But will this be enough for AMD to win back lost market share? That’s a question that will be interesting to follow over the course of the next 12 months…
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!
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