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Overclocking

Since the Phenom II X2 550 is a Black Edition, I first played with multipliers instead of the base clock. I first found out that the processor final clock would be somewhere between 3.8GHz and 3.9GHz, with a voltage of 1.425V set in BIOS. Then, I cranked up the memory speed to 1600MHz, which previous Phenom IIs had no difficulty to handle, and it passed the stability tests. Then, while having the processor multiplier at x19 and the memory multiplier at x8, I increased the base clock one notch at a time. I got 202 as its final value. Last step, I increased the integrated memory controller and the HyperTransport multiplier up to x12. This required an extra 0.1V on the IMC.

Here is a quick summary of the changed settings:

• CPU voltage of 1.425V
• CPU multiplier of x19
• RAM multiplier of x8
• Base clock of 202MHz
• CPU-NB voltage 0.1V higher
• CPU-NB multiplier of x12
• HTT multiplier of x12

Power Consumption

The Phenom II X2 550 was exactly 15W under the PII X3 720 at load. This matches their difference in TDP. The Intel-based system got beaten by a full 65W at load.

Conclusion

Looking at the scores, the 3.1GHz Phenom II X2 550 is pretty much equal to the 3GHz E8400. Our subject won 3 real-world gaming tests out of 5, but for the other benchmarks it lost seven out of the remaining twelve. So really, if it is inferior to the E8400, I would say it is by a tiny bit. The difference though is that the Phenom II X2 costs $102 whereas the 3GHz Core 2 Duo costs $165. Furthermore, for that mere $102, one gets an unlocked multiplier. We can then affirm without any doubt that processors in the Intel E7x00 series will just be opponents to laugh at for the X2 550. Also, the $13 difference with the 3GHz locked Athlon II is really worth it in my opinion if it is for a gaming or enthusiast build.

Furthermore, power consumption is a tad high for a dual-core processor, however the whole AMD-based system is much more energy efficient than the Intel-based rig, as we have just seen.

In conclusion, I cannot say anything but that making a dual-core Phenom II by disabling half the cores yielded an awesome budget and enthusiast processor. As for overclocking, I was amazed to see how it stayed cool. I achieved 3857MHz out of it, and that is only with a voltage of 1.425V. For the extreme overclockers, this processor is definitely one to try under dry ice or liquid nitrogen!