Introduction
The first 45nm chips from AMD have been released, and until now, only the quadcore models X4 940 and the X4 920 i AM2+ edition have been available. The AM3 CPU's sporting DDR3-support, have kept us waiting but are now ready for launch. Luckily AMD has allowed us to get our hands on a couple of the new AM3's for testing before release, making it possible for us to be the first in Denmark to have a full review ready for our readers as soon as the NDA runs out.
We're really looking forward to see just how much performance DDR3 can provide, and naturally we test it the easiest way possible, as these CPU's are backwards compatible with AM2 mainboards - which means, that without hesitation, we can install these CPU's in an AM2 mainboard to test it using DDR2 memory and next, test the very same CPU in an AM3 board running DDR3 memory.
However, we have more surprises up our sleeves for our readers, as we, for the first time, compare AMD to Intel in a comprehensive clock-by-clock test, where all CPU's run at the same frequency. But that wont stop us, because naturally we're going to find out what AMD's DDR3 dual channel can do, compared to Intels DDR3 dual- and triplechannel. Lastly, we're naturally going to try to find out how much 'headroom', as AMD puts it, can be found in these new AM3 CPU's from AMD. To us, that means overclocking potential!
In this article the triplecore variant with an unlocked multiplier, the Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition, will be studied.
On the next page we'll take a peek at what news Phenom II brings about.
