Final Thoughts
What we have here are five new AMD processors, none of which depart from what we had already. On the upside though, AMD has introduced all of these models at existent price points which will translate in small price cuts for older processors and overall savings to consumers.
The Phenom II X6 1075T fits in the middle of the two existent hexa-core CPUs offered by AMD. We barely found this processor to be faster than the cheaper 1055T model, while it closed in ever slightly against the Phenom II X6 1075T that is clocked 7% faster but costs around 25% more.
Neither the Phenom II X6 1075T or 1055T are Black Edition (unlocked) processors, but if you were to increase the FSB of the 1055T by 15MHz you will have reached the operating frequency of the 1075T, and needless to say every 1055T processor is going to be capable of this. Therefore the Phenom II X6 1055T remains the most exciting and best value high-end processor that AMD has to offer.
The new Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition takes a step forward in terms of performance, albeit a very small step. The better news that this processor brings is that it will push down the price of the Phenom II X4 955. This CPU features an unlocked multiplier just as the 965 and 970 processors do, so they are essentially the same processor.
Speaking of unlocked processors, the Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition will also bump the 555 down a price notch making everyone's favorite budget processor even cheaper. Of course, both of these have the potential to unlock their 3rd and 4th cores becoming a true quad-core Phenom II X4 for less than $100.
Finally, the Athlon II X4 and Athlon II X2 families become a tiny bit faster at no added cost.
In case you didn't notice it, the AMD line-up just became a little more complicated, as if it weren't complicated enough already. The Black Edition versions are not offered exclusively by each family flagship model, while the Phenom II X4 range is only made up of Black Edition processors.
Furthermore you have to wonder how many different CPUs a single company can offer for less than $100. Before this launch AMD had a dozen CPUs priced at less than $100, many of them spaced just $5 apart, it seems a little ridiculous to us.