When we reviewed the first crop of Phenom II processors last month we were satisfied with the level of performance and power savings these new chips brought to the table. That launch also ignited a price war on the mainstream CPU segment with several Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors getting a nice price slash.
Only two weeks later and what we get is an expanded line of Phenom II X4 and X3 (triple-core) processors, all of which make use of the new AM3 socket and fall below the flagship models we reviewed last month. That also means pricing for all the new CPUs is below $215.
Three new quad-core Phenom IIs have been released, the 910 and 810 are both clocked at 2.6GHz, and the 805 runs at 2.5GHz. The X3 parts are comprised of the 720 and 710, clocked at 2.8GHz and 2.6GHz respectively. In case you are left wondering what is different in the new X4 800 series, the L3 cache on those CPUs have been reduced from 6MB to 4MB. Meanwhile, the triple core CPUs are left untouched with the full 6MB L3 cache, but the L2 secondary cache is cut from 2MB to an odd 1.5MB.
TDP has been reduced across the board for the new Phenom II CPUs from 125W to 95W, which could pose some promise in the overclocking department. AMD expects all chips to be available immediately.