Advanced Micro Devices or AMD as we all know them have been supplying computing and graphics solutions to homes and business for over three decades. The release of their AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Processor saw a change in the TDP (Thermal design power) reduced from 140w to 125w. Now when we see a reduction of anything 9/10 it is bad but not in the case of the TDP. You see a when a CPU runs under heavy load the TDP is the maximum power consumption the CPU draws, so a change of 140w to 125w not only means it drawing less power, it means it also runs cooler than before, a dream to those who enjoy tinkering with clock speeds and overclocking.
Tests have shown that speeds of 4.12GHz are easily obtainable when running this CPU at 1.5v. That is in excess of a whopping 300MHz increase over the old 14w Phenom II X4 965. With an increased cache size, updated 125W TDP architecture and a larger IHS footprint the newer Black Edition Phenom II is exactly what enthusiasts have been crying out for, but how does this processor compare with the i5-750 from Intel?
Now it is always going to be tricky comparing like for like speeds with different manufacturers due to the requirements of different hardware like the motherboard. It isn’t just a case of switching one chip over for another and measuring the speeds. However using the suggested and similar priced motherboards for each; a Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P for the AMD and a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 for the i5 comparison tests on a series of tasks show that the AMD is slightly lacking behind the CPU from Intel.
However your reason for buying the newer 125w processor shouldn’t be down to straight out of the box usage, the reason the computer community is speaking about this one is down to its potent force when it comes to overclocking. You should be buying this processor with a view to overclocking at a stable 4.2GHz. Remember to overclock this beauty it is a simple case of setting the voltage and clock multiplier and the low voltage 125w means it remains cool with just air cooling. To obtain the same results with the Intel you would need to purchase the 3.33GHz Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition CPU with an unlocked clock multiplier and at triple the price of the AMD and that doesn’t include the need for some serious cooler to be added.