AMD Announces The Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 12:01 AM EDT

In addition to launching the new Radeon HD 4770 this morning, AMD is also taking the opportunity to announce a new value-priced desktop CPU, the Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition. The Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition should be available for about $69 when it hits store shelves today. It is a 2.8GHz, socket AM2+ processor manufactured using AMD's 65nm DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) process. The full specifications and a couple of postures are listed below...

AMD Athlon X2 7850 Processor Specifications:
Processor Core Frequency:	2.8GHz
X2 7850 Black Edition Tray OPN:	OPN# AD785ZWCJ2BGH
X2 7850 Black Edition PIB OPN:	OPN# AD785ZWCGHBOX
L1 Cache Sizes:	64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes:	512KB of L2 data cache per core (1MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size:	2MB (shared)
Total Cache (L2+L3):	3MB
Memory Controller Type:	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller
Memory Controller Speed:	Up to 1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
Types of Memory Supported:	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)
HyperTransport 3.0:	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.6GHz full duplex (1.8GHz x2)
Total Processor-to-system Bandwidth:	Up to 28.5 GB/s bandwidth [Up to 17.1GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR2-1066) + 14.4GB/s (HT3)]
Packaging:	Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)
Fab location:	GLOBALFOUNDARIES Fab 1 module 1 in Dresden, Germany (formerly AMD Fab 36)
Process Technology:	65-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
Approximate Transistor count:	~ 450 million (65nm)
Approximate Die Size:	285 mm2 (65nm)
Max Ambient Case Temp:	73o Celsius
Nominal Voltage:	1.2-1.25 Volts
Max TDP:	95 Watts

Because the Athlon X2 7850 is a Black Edition processor it gives users the ability to select memory controller, HyperTransport, and CPU core frequencies either through software, i.e. OverDrive, or through the motherboard's system BIOS. Should a fun chip for the overclockers on a budget out there.

Due to time constraints, we weren't able to run a full suite of tests on the Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition, but we will soon and will update you all ASAP. Stay tuned.

Tags: AMD, CPU, processor, Athlon

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com