Conclusion
So that’s how the Phenom II X4 955 stacks up in synthetic benchmarks. Number crunchers can rejoice. We regret not being able to include DDR2 test numbers for the chip at this time. Hopefully MSI will release a new BIOS for our board soon. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as we can with our test findings.
Our tests today paint a pretty good picture for what an out-of-the-box Phenom II X4 955 will do. Stock performance is overall on-par with or better than the Intel Core2 Q9550, and it comes at a good cost savings. Rarely does the chip falter where the difference would be noticeable anyways. For $245, the chip seems worth it for anyone looking to go the AM3 route, or for users looking to upgrade existing AM3 systems.
For AM2+ owners, the lines blur a bit. On one hand, it’s the fastest processor they can buy right now. The Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition can currently be had for under $200, however. Its performance is close enough that some people may find it worthwhile to save $50, but that trade sacrifices the option to move to a DDR3-based system down the line and still retain the same chip. In the long term, it may not be worth it to forsake the potential for additional memory bandwidth. People won’t have that long to make the choice. AMD has said the Phenom II X4 940 BE will remain on sale for now, but they expect it to be replaced by the 955 in the coming months.
Our Gigabyte board costs $180 and is one of the most expensive AM3 boards on the market. Adding in a good 4GB kit of DDR3-1333 is another $60. That brings the total cost of the core components for our AM3 Phenom II X4 955 system to under $500. With a less expensive board and some rebates, a system builder could potentially build for under $450 with careful shopping. Comparatively, the same person could build a P45-based Intel system for the same price. Opting to go with an X48 motherboard like the DFI one we used in testing adds another $50 to the total price. Performance wise, the AMD Phenom II X4 955 seems to be the better choice.
The trouble with all this comes with the Core i7 920. It’s a $290 processor that requires a $200 motherboard to be safe. Throw in a 6GB kit of DDR3 for $80, and we’re looking at a total core cost of $570. On average, the price difference between building an AMD or Intel Core 2 based quad system and building a Core i7 system should be around $100. With our limited testing of the Core i7, we see that the performance increase percentage is greater than the cost increase percentage. For those who can spare some extra cash in these troubled times and who aren’t looking to upgrade existing hardware, we think the Core i7 deserves a good look.
Then again, we’ve only tested the Phenom II X4 955 in its stock configuration, and it’s called a Black Edition for a reason. This sucker is unlocked and ready to overclock, so for those of you who are considering system tweaking, we’ll be giving it a good overclocking to see how far it’ll go. Word is out that AMD has seen excellent yields with these 45nm chips, so we’re expecting great things, all made easy by AMD’s updated Overdrive utility. We ran short on time for this review, but plan to do a full piece on the Dragon platform and Overdrive in coming days. At this point, we’re pretty sold on the Phenom II X4 955. Overclocking it with Overdrive will hopefully make an even stronger case for it soon.
In conclusion, the Phenom II X4 955 is a great piece of silicon. It gives nice stock performance at a very attractive price, and marries a full-featured Phenom II with DDR3. It’s not a revolutionary chip, just a well done evolution of the line. Some people knock AMD for relying on value as a key selling point, but when value and performance work hand-in-hand like this, it’s hard to be a cynic. It won’t make the Robb Report. Still, we’re warming up to it.
On one final note, we did test everything here with Windows 7 Beta, but because of its EULA, we’re prevented from sharing benchmark results with you. We can, however, say that under Windows 7 performance for these chips was very similar to what we see under Vista 64, with some mild improvements in some cases. When Windows 7 is released, we think that you’ll see improved performance across the board, but at this point we don’t anticipate the performance changes to be enough to influence the purchasing choices processor buyers may make.