AMD's strategy of disabling cores has begun a while ago with the Phenom architecture. In that time, triple-cores were launched with many different frequencies, varying from 1.9GHz to 2.5GHz. Doing so allows to make use of a processor that has a faulty core, and it offers a good compromise between dual-cores and quad-cores.
The same strategy got appplied to the next series of processors: the Phenom IIs. However, the major difference between the previous triple-cores is that this time, AMD targeted the enthusiast crowd by launching a Black Edition processor: the Phenom II X3 720. In fact, none of the previous triple-cores featured an unlocked multiplier. Many dual-core in the Athlon series did, though.
As I stated in my previous article, the Athlon II X2 250 review, as of now, Black Edition processors will be found only in the Phenom II series so there will be no Athlon II X2 Black Edition. But what if the user wants a dual-core with an unlocked mutliplier? AMD went further by disabling a second core to Phenom II processors, yielding a dual-core Phenom II X2. This means the chip hidden under the heatspreader is still a quad-core.
This is what we will be looking at today. AMD just launched a 3.1GHz Phenom II X2, named the 550. This makes of it the second fastest Phenom II on the market, the first one being the X4 955. Furthermore, it is a Black Edition!
Its price tag is $102. Looking at Newegg's offerings, it does not have many competitors in this price range. On the cheaper side, there is the 2.7GHz E5400 sold for $90. On the other side, there is the 2.8GHz E7400 retails for $119, but the Phenom II X3 710 already takes care of it. Furthermore, for that mere $102, one gets an unlocked processor!
Specifications
Model Number & Core Frequency
X2 550 Black Edition = 3.1GHz
TRAY OPN#
HDZ550WFK2DGI
PIB OPN#
HDZ550WGIBOX
L1 Cache Sizes
64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (256KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes
512KB of L2 data cache per core (1MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size
6MB (shared)
Total Cache (L2+L3)
7MB
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)]
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