The AMD Phenom II X4 975 BE CPU

AMD has just released their latest quad-core speed-bump in order to give consumers the option for a little more bang and a little more buck. With the release of the AMD Phenom II X4 975 ‘Black Edition’ processor, AMD has added a new king to their Phenom II X4 quad-core product line. The previous leader in this category was the Phenom II X4 970 at 3.5GHz and 125W TDP. The 975 adds 100MHz for a total of 3.6GHz. This clock speed not only marks the highest quad core, but the highest base factory clock chip in all of AMD’s desktop processor lines.  With a price-point of $195, AMD also maintains their sub-$200 barrier in their quad-core processors.

CPU-Z shows the Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition sports an x18 multiplier to bring its core speed to a blazing 3.6 GHz. This Deneb-based core features 6 MB of Level 3 cache which , the X4 975BE is the top of the line for AMD’s desktop quad-core processors.  The predecessor of the X4 975BE is the X4 970BE which has exactly the same features as the X4 975BE, but with a 100 MHz difference from the x17.5 multiplier on the X4 970 and the x18 multiplier on the 975.  In order to produce the 975BE, AMD had to beef up their screening processes in order to create a new high-end bin for Deneb cores that can handle 3.6GHz.

Here is what AMD has to say about the Phenom II X4 975BE:

“The 975BE comes in on top of our popular 4-core performance stack with great speed and a sub-$200 price tag. It’s a great general purpose CPU for enthusiasts and gamers alike because it has the cores, cache and the frequency to easily master applications and tasks. As always our ‘Black Edition’ processors come with unlocked multipliers from the factory for easy tuning.”

Specifications:

• Model Number & Core Frequency: X4 975 / 3.6GHz
• OPN: HDZ975FBK4DGM
• 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 processor)
• L3 Cache Size: 6MB (shared)
• Total Cache (L2+L3): 8MB
• Memory Controller Type: Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller
• Memory Controller Speed: Up to 2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
• Types of Memory Supported: Unregistered DIMMs up to PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) -AND- PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333MHz)
• HyperTransport 3.0 Specification: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)
• Total Processor-to-System Bandwidth: Up to 37.3GB/s total bandwidth [Up to 21.3 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR3-1333) + 16.0GB/s (HT3)] Up to 33.1GB/s total bandwidth [Up to 17.1 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR2-1066) + 16.0GB/s (HT3)]
• Packaging: Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)
• Fab location: GLOBALFOUNDARIES Fab 1 module 1 in Dresden, Germany (formerly AMD Fab 36)
• Process Technology: 45-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
• Approximate Die Size: 258mm2
• Approximate Transistor count: ~758 million
• Max TDP: 125 Watts
• AMD Codename: “Deneb”