AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Processor
Introduction and Specifications
Over the course of a few months in late 2007 and early-to-mid 2008, AMD unveiled their Spider platform, consisting of AMD-built desktop processors, chipsets, and graphics cards, and refreshed said platform with faster processors and graphics cards. Fast forward to today, and AMD is doing the same thing, but this time with the newer, more powerful Dragon platform. It's like Déjà Vu all over again, as they say.
Even though some components have been available for much longer, the complete Dragon platform--consisting of Radeon HD 4000 series graphics, 7-series chipsets, and Phenom II processors--has been around since January of this year, when the Phenom II first arrived. Since the initial launch, AMD has updated the GPU portion of the platform with the excellent Radeon HD 4890, i.e. RV790, and introduced mainstream socket AM3 processors. And today, AMD ups the ante yet again with the highest clocked quad-core CPU to be offered by the company to date, the 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition.
We've got one of AMD's new flagship desktop processors in house for a little benchmark action and have clocked it down to 3.0GHz as well to simulate the performance of the Phenom II X4 945, which is also arriving alongside the 955 BE. Read on for the full scoop...
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Processor
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| Model / Processor Frequency: | AMD Phenom II Processor Model X4 955 (3.2GHz) / 945 (3.0GHz) |
| 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 (2MB total L2 per X4 processor) |
| L3 Cache Size (shared): | 4MB |
| Memory Controller Type: | Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller, capable of being configured for dual 64-bit channels for simultaneous read/writes |
| Memory Controller Frequency: | Up to 2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management |
| Types of Memory: | Unreg. DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3 1333 (DDR3-1333MHz) |
| HyperTransport 3.0: | One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4000MHz full duplex |
| Total Processor Bandwidth: | Up to 33.1 GB/s bandwidth |
| Packaging: | Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA) (backward compatible with Socket AM2) |
| Fab location: | GLOBALFOUNDARIES Fab 1 module 1 Dresden, Germany |
| Process Technology: | 45nm (.045-micron) DSL Silicon on Insulator (SOI) |
| Approximate Transistor count: | approx. ~758 million (65nm) |
| Approximate Die Size: | 258 mm2 (45nm) |
| Nominal Voltage: | .0875-1.5 Volts |
| Max Ambient Case Temp: | 62 degress Celsius |
| Max TDP: | 125 Watts |
| *Note: MC configurable for dual 64-bit channels for simultaneous read/writes | |
| **Note: for DDR3-1333, AM3 boards will support 1-DIMM-per-channel @ 1333MHz |
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As most of you probably know, and we've already mentioned, the Dragon platform as a whole is not new. Most of its core components have already been on the scene for quite some time now. As such, we have already covered them in-depth here on HotHardware in previous articles, so we won't do the same again here. We will, however, recommend that you take a look at a few recent articles to get familiar with some of the underlying technology and components that comprise AMD's Dragon platform.
- ATI Radeon HD 4890: The RV790 Unveiled
- Enter The Dragon: AMD Phenom II X4 940
- AMD Phenom II X4 810 and X3 720 BE Processors
- ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870: RV770 Has Arrived
- ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 - AMD Back On Top
- AMD 790GX Chipset Platform Launch
- AMD 780G Chipset and Athlon X2 4850e Preview
- AMD Phenom X4 9350e and 9950 BE Debut
The Radeon HD 4800 series articles detail the features and technology that have made the GPUs so successful in the 3D graphics space. And the various 7-series chipset, Phenom, Phenom II and Athlon processor, and Spider platform related articles cover the remainder of the platform specifics--with the exception of the new Phenom II 945 and 955 being announced today that is...
