AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Pro Reviews

The speed bump on today’s launch of the Phenom II X4 980BE does not change anything for AMD. The processor is still not able compete against Intel Sandy Bridge processors like the Core i5 2500K priced at the same bracket. It will not convert any Intel users to AMD systems. However, the new processor paves a good upgrade option for current AMD users, especially for those who already have AM3 boards that will support the upcoming Bulldozer. Upgrading to the Phenom II X4 980BE from an older dual core will offer extra performance boost, and later once the Bulldozer arrives, users can upgrade to that without incurring a overall system overhaul. The Phenom II X4 980BE's performance is fast enough for most tasks, but Intel still wins when it comes to heavy, multi-threaded tasks. Furthermore, Intel Sandy Bridge wins in terms of power efficiency. The good news is that the processor overclocks really well to 4.4GHz on air cooling without any issue, but at cost of higher power consumption.

In the end, this is a simple 100 MHz increase in clockspeed for AMD for their high end quad core processor. It is not all that much faster than the previous X4 975, but at least it does not consume all that much more power than the previous model. It is a good all-around performer, and would make a solid foundation for a productivity and gaming machine for most users. Invariably though, most eyes are drawn to the horizon and the promise of Llano and Bulldozer. Hopefully for AMD these next generation processors will allow them to more adequately compete with Intel when it comes to raw performance. Until these products are released, AMD will rely on the Phenom II X4 980 and Phenom II X6 1100T to be the standard bearer for their performance level processors.

There's not a whole lot to say here about the Phenom II X4 980. AMD originally introduced the Phenom II architecture over two years ago to compete with Intel's Core 2 lineup. Intel has since been through one major microarchitecture revision (Sandy Bridge) and Phenom II is beginning to show its age. AMD is most competitive at the edges of its lineup. The Phenom II X6 offers a ton of cores at a budget if you have a workload that can use them, and the Athlon II at the low end is still quite desirable. Unless you're an existing Socket-AM3 motherboard owner a high end Phenom II X4 just isn't attractive.

So while the Phenom II X4 chips were decent when first introduced, the market has moved on enough to make the X4 980 BE, at best, an average buy, because there are simply better processors for the same money.

AMD’s last Phenom-branded CPU is a mixed blessing. In effect, it’s the last of a generation of CPUs that enables us to look forward to AMD’s new offerings. However, it also reminds us that AMD is currently lagging far behind Intel, not only in the performance stakes, but also in terms of power efficiency and value for money. The i5-2500K costs only £20 more than the Phenom II X4 980 BE, and it's much faster. The 980 BE lacks grunt in all our benchmarks – even Intel’s inexpensive dual-core Core i3-2100 proved faster in some tests, and that was before we’d even overclocked the AMD CPU.

What, exactly, is the point of this little product refresh. Yes, AMD's top quad-core product is a tiny little bit improved over the prior model, but even in the small picture, nothing much has changed at all.

The AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition will be available almost immediately for just under $200 ($195 to be exact), occupying the spot previously held by the Phenom II X4 975 BE. Prices on the other members of the Phenom II X4 900 family will drop accordingly. Newer processors and platforms are on the horizon, however, from both AMD and Intel. So for those users contemplating a completely new system build, the Phenom II X4 980 BE might not be the right choice.

We're back to multi-core support again. If you're happy getting the most out of a single core in your applications, the X4 980 Black Edition is looking good. As games step up their multicore support though, the X6 has the potential to blitz the 980 for less cash.

And yet again, AMD has served us a Deneb based Phenom II X4 processor, with just another 100 MHz speed bump over its predecessor. No new technology implementations like Turbo Core, no significant performance increases, in fact, Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition has nothing we haven't seen from AMD in the last year or two. Yes it's the company's highest clocked processor ever, but now that Intel Sandy Bridge is in the game that fact carries little weight. The 3.70 GHz clock frequency is not that impressive to be honest, because any other Phenom II X4 Black Edition based on C3 core can easily achieve that speed with few simple clicks in BIOS or AMD's OverDrive utility, without playing around with core voltage.

The AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Processor features the highest clock speed of any that AMD has released, but it's on core architecture that is over two years old and it shows in the benchmarks. It gets the job done, but is clearly pushing the limits of what AMD can expect from Deneb.

AMD's HDZ980FBK4DGM is set to release at an MSRP of $195. That fits right in line with where the newest Phenom-II quad-core should fit. Last year, that would have been a great price for a processor that rivals the Core i7-920 in many areas of performance. Things have changed, however. A price nearing $200 begs more performance now. In fact, if you are interested in upgrading to an AMD Phenom-II X4-900 series CPU, I really have to recommend one of the previous versions that will now drop in price.

If you are looking for a stable quad core processor for an upgrade or next build why not fork out a bit and get the top end? The Phenom II X4 980 will give you what you crave and then allow you to take a little more.

Honestly though, if you are a fan of AMD products, we would highly recommend that you make due with your current setup and wait a bit, since Bulldozers processors are right around the corner, and we think they are going to be well worth the wait.