Introduction
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From the last batch of new CPUs released by AMD last month, we decided to review the Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition (3.5 GHz) and Phenom II X6 1075T (3.0 GHz). Check it out.
At 3.5 GHz, the Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition is now the fastest four-core CPU from AMD, even though the clock difference between this new model and the model that was the higher-clocked Phenom II X4 until last month, the 965 Black Edition, is of only 100 MHz. So, a big question is raised: is there any performance difference between the two? That is exactly what we are going to check in this review. By the way, “Black Edition” means that the CPU comes with its clock multiplier unlocked, giving you another way to overclock your CPU (by increasing its clock multiplier). AMD still owes the long-promised Phenom II X4 975 at 3.6 GHz.
The new Phenom II X6 1075T (3.0 GHz), on the other hand, comes between the two other six-core CPUs from AMD released so far, the Phenom II X6 1090T (3.2 GHz) and Phenom II X6 1055T (2.8 GHz) (a fourth Phenom II X6 exists, the 1045T, but it isn’t offered in the retail market).
Phenom II X6 CPUs have a technology similar to Turbo Boost from Intel, dubbed Turbo Core. When the CPU “feels” that three or more cores are idle, it will increase the clock rate from the active cores. On the new Phenom II X6 1075T the clock is increase from 3 GHz (x15 multiplier) to 3.5 GHz (x17.5 multiplier).
On the other hand, AMD still doesn’t have anything similar to Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology, which simulates an extra core on each CPU core. So the six-core CPU from Intel is seen by the operating system and programs as a 12-core CPU.
Let’s now make a quick comparison between the CPUs we included in our benchmarking.
