Legit Processor Reviews

AMD Athlon II X2 255 Dual Core 3.1GHz Processor Review

Manufacturer: AMD
Product: AMD Athlon II X2 255
Date: Fri, Feb 12, 2010 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Dan Stoltz -
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AMD Athlon II X2 255 CPU


AMD Athlon II X2 255 processor

The AMD Athlon II X2 255 is the latest dual core Athlon II to be released.  Based on the Regor core, the Athlon II X2 255 has a clock speed of 3.1GHz with a 2000MHz HT link and memory support for both DDR2 (up to 1,066 MT/s) and DDR3 (up to 1,333 MT/s).   All these features the AMD Athlon II X2 255 comes with, priced at a low price of $74.99 shipped.  We are fortunate enough to have one here for some testing.

AMD Athlon II X2 255 CPUz

Taking a closer look at the Athlon II X2 255 processor with CPU-Z 1.53 you can see the details on this 3.1GHz, 45nm native dual-core die that comes in at a cool 65W max TDP. This new dual-core processor has a 1MB of L2 cache per core, but has no L3 cache. The Athlon II series is AMD's first processor with hardware C1E (a low-power state). Moving this power state out of the BIOS and into the CPU microcode will enable AMD to ensure more consistent power management implementation across platforms. This is good news as systems will be more energy efficient as a result of this change. This processor sports the new Socket AM3 938-pin micro-PGA package so it will work in all Socket AM3 and AM2 motherboards with both DDR2/DDR3 memory solutions. The AMD Athlon II X2 255 will be released at a low $74 price point.

CPU Name Cores Clock L2/L3 Cache HT Bus Socket TDP Price
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 4 3.4GHz 2+6MB 4000MHz AM3 140W $179
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE 4 3.2GHz 2+6MB 4000MHz AM3 125W $165
AMD Phenom II X4 945 4 3.0GHz 2+6MB 4000MHz AM3 125W $159
AMD Phenom II X4 925 4 2.8GHz 2+6MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $139
AMD Phenom II X4 910e 4 2.6GHz  2+6MB  4000MHz AM3 65W $169
AMD Phenom II X4 905e 4 2.5GHz 2+6MB 4000MHz AM3 65W $175
AMD Phenom II X4 810 4 2.6GHz 2+4MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $139
AMD Phenom II X3 720BE 3 2.8GHz 1.5+6MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $104
AMD Phenom II X3 710 3 2.6GHz 1.5+6MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $99
AMD Phenom II X3 705e 3 2.5GHz 1.5+6MB 4000MHz AM3 65W $119
AMD Phenom II X2 555 2 3.2GHz   1+6MB 4000MHz AM3 80W $99
AMD Phenom II X2 550 2 3.1GHz 1+6MB 4000MHz AM3 80W $91
AMD Athlon II X4 635 4 2.9GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $120
AMD Athlon II X4 630 4 2.8GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $102
AMD Athlon II X4 620 4 2.6GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $99
AMD Athlon II X3 440 3 3.0GHz 1.5MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $84
AMD Athlon II X3 435 3 2.9GHz 1.5MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $75
AMD Athlon II X3 425 3 2.7GHz 1.5MB 4000MHz AM3 95W $72
AMD Athlon II X2 255 2 3.1GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3  65W $75
AMD Athlon II X2 250 2 3.0GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 65W $65
AMD Athlon II X2 245 2 2.9GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 65W $61
AMD Athlon II X2 240 2 2.8GHz 2MB 4000MHz AM3 65W $53

The AMD Phenom II and Athlon II product stack is strong as usual with prices starting out at just $53 for the AMD Athlon II X2 240 and rising up to $179 for the Phenom II X4 965 BE. The AMD Athlon II X2 255 comes at the low price of $74.99 plus shipping.  When an Athlon II X2 processor is combined with a sub-$100 motherboard featuring the AMD 785G chipset, you can clearly see that AMD has a great platform at a very solid price point.

Next Page - The Test System


Review Index
Page 1 - AMD Athlon II X2 255 CPU
Page 2 - The Test System
Page 3 - Sandra 2010 Memory Bandwidth
Page 4 - PCMark Vantage
Page 5 - 3DMark Vantage
Page 6 - POV-Ray
Page 7 - Photodex Proshow 4.0
Page 8 - Cinebench 10
Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 10 - Colin McRae: DiRT 2
Page 11 - Overclocking the AMD Athlon II X2 255
Page 12 - Power Consumption
Page 13 - Final Thoughts and Conclusion