Image courtesy of AMD
Today AMD is happy to announce their new Phenom II X6 CPU, 890FX Chipset, and ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series video cards. This trio is the latest offering from AMD/ATI and promises more bang for the buck and unmatched performance. AMD put the hours in at their R&D lab and developed a 6 core CPU that utilizes Turbo Core technology allowing 3 dedicated turbo cores to turn on/off as needed for optimal performance while maintaining proper thermal dissipation and power efficiency. AMD is stating that the new CPU will work in the current AM3 and AM2+ sockets and utilize the same heatsink/fan setup that you have today.
Image courtesy of AMD
The new 890FX Chipset offers the latest features including SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 natively onboard. All current AM3/AM2+ CPU’s will are also compatible and of course the new Phenom II X6. AMD also will include the OverDrive 3.2.1 Software and Fusion Utility for Desktop. OverDrive gives you complete and maximum control making it the “all-in-one” tuning utility. Some of the features of the software include, hardware monitoring, fan control, custom tweaks and overclocking, a visual system diagram, and AMD Smart Profiles. OverDrive supports all SuperIO chips and Southbridges. *AMD stated on the presentation that overclocking still void the factory warranty even if using OverDrive.
The last announcement of the day comes as the new Radeon HD 5000 Series graphics line. The new DirectX 11 cards are rated as performance cards at an affordable price. ATI boasts that the series will offer both ATI Eyefinity and ATI Stream technologies. Eyefinity technology allows you to connect multiple displays (max 6) for a full panoramic gaming or media viewing experience. This technology will allow you to turn your room/Mom’s basement into a full panoramic gaming arena.
Key features on the new products:
AMD Phenom™ II X6 CPU
•Unbeatable 6 Core Technology
•Up to 50% More Cores than
previous AMD processors
•AMD Turbo CORE TechnologyAMD 8-Series Chipsets
•Up to 2×16 PCI Express Gen 2
•SATA 6Gbps
•AMD Black Edition Memory SupportATI Radeon™ HD 5000 Series
•ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 Series products offer a winning feature set at a wide range of prices
•DirectX® 11 Capable
•ATI Eyefinity Technology supports multiple displays for panoramic visuals
So there you have it. Fanboy or not, AMD is looking to jump ahead of the competition with their first consumer 6 core CPU and new performance chipset. No prices have been released, but I’m going to assume they will keep the AMD standards of high performance that’s easy on your wallet. With some light searching around the net you can find the debated topic of multicore CPU’s in gaming. Some state the extra core’s offer no performance gain because today’s games are not coded for the multiple cores. The best gains with multicore CPU’s is with audio/video encoding, where the current software is written to use whatever you can throw at it. With the back and forth power struggle between the Intel and AMD camps, the 6 core war is just beginning to heat up. I’m looking forward to the real world benchmarks to see how the Phenom II X6 fares against Intel’s new 6 core Gulftown CPU’s.
Update: online retailer Newegg has two versions of the Phenom II X6 in stock and ready to ship. The 1055T model is clocked at 2.8Ghz with 6X512KB L2 cache, and 6MB L3 cache. The Phenom II X6 Black Edition (1090T) has similar specs but it clocked at 3.2Ghz. The CPU’s will run you $209.99 for the 1055T and $309.99 for the 1090T. Both operate at a 125W TDP.
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