AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE C3 Review
Written by
Richard Swinburne
November 4, 2009 | 09:13
Tags: #2 #benchmarks #c3 #core #cpu #ddr3 #deneb #die #ii #oc #overclock #overclocking #performance #phenom #processor #quad #realworld #review #sleep #x4
Companies: #amd #test
1 — AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE C3 Review2 — CPU and Memory Overclocking: Improvements?3 — Single-Threaded Memory Performance — Everest4 — Multi-Threaded Memory Performance — Sisoft Sandra5 — Cinebench and wPrime6 — Image Editing and Video Encoding7 — Multi-tasking8 — Gaming Performance: Crysis and X3: Terran Conflict9 — Power Consumption and Conclusion
Manufacturer:AMD
UK Price (as reviewed): Around £140
US Price (as reviewed): Around $190
AMD is re-releasing its Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. Unlike its larger competitor, who slides in a new core revision like its playing cards, AMD wants to get peoples’ attention. There are a few tweaks in the latest upgrade, after all.
AMD has refined its 45nm DSL SOI process and revised the core from C2 to C3, reducing current leakage and making this same 3.4GHz (17 x 200MHz) 938-pin AM3 socket chip «just» 125W, rather than the previous 140W.
The change is significant because it allows us overclockers more overhead: AMD’s overclocking potential is directly proportional to how cool it can run, and for most of us on air it means the difference of a mediocre 3.8GHz versus a full blown 4-point-something. And it needs it too, with Intel scurrying away at 4.2 to 4.4GHz with its latest D0 Core i7 920s and most Lynnfields (we’re ignoring the obnoxiously priced 975s), AMD needed a boost to keep it in the game.
Click to enlarge
The new core is not meant to just overclock the cores better, it’s supposed to allow more DDR3 MHz too. Instead of most of us topping out at 1,600MHz (1,700MHz if you’re lucky), there’s apparently now a little more available with HyperTransport overclocking, since there are no more memory multipliers, not to mention four DIMMs at 1,333MHz too. The latter is noteworthy news for those power users needing 8GB system memory in a workstation.
Finally there’s also hardware C1E implemented, which allows faster switching between power states meaning «virtually no impact to performance by power management when the BIOS support is properly implemented». Naturally, we test this claim, as traditionally we’ve always recommend our readers run with Cool’n’Quiet off in performance systems (if it’s built to tolerate the constant extra heat) because it tends to strongly negatively affect performance. If AMD has fixed it, well, great! Power saving all round, please.
The new core is made in Global Foundaries Fab 1, module 1, in Dresden, Germany, which is formerly AMD’s Fab 36.
If you’re completely new to AMD’s Phenom II, inside we have:
- L1 Cache: 64KB L1 data, 64KB L1 instruction per core, exclusive
- L2 cache: 512KB per core, exclusive
- L3 cache: 6MB accessible by all cores
- Hyper Transport and Northbridge Frequency: 2.
0GHz (4.0MT/s) HT 3.0 16-bit bi-directional
- 128-bit dual channel or two 64-bit single channel DDR2/3 memory
- ~758 Million transistors, 258mm² die size (which is identical to the previous 965 Black Edition)
- TDP: 125W
Black Edition products are only available as «PIB» (Processor in Box), and you can check you’re getting the right version because it uses this code: HDZ965FBK4DGM, not «I».
1 — AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE C3 Review2 — CPU and Memory Overclocking: Improvements?3 — Single-Threaded Memory Performance — Everest4 — Multi-Threaded Memory Performance — Sisoft Sandra5 — Cinebench and wPrime6 — Image Editing and Video Encoding7 — Multi-tasking8 — Gaming Performance: Crysis and X3: Terran Conflict9 — Power Consumption and Conclusion
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AMD’s
Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition processor is
multiplier unlocked so we can overclocking it simply by
increasing the clock multiplier beyond 18.0x, or
by boosting the motherboard bus speed above
200MHz. Any combination of these two parameters will also overclock the
processor.
PCSTATS
is going to aim for a 4.5GHz overclock with this chip, the question is will we
manage to get the CPU to agree?
Pre-Overclocking Warm
up…
To give
the quad-core processor a fighting chance the Corsair XMS3-1600C8 DDR3-1600
test memory was set to run in DDR3-800 MHz mode so it wouldn’t hold things back
as bus speeds increased. The standard AMD reference AVC Z7U7414001 heatsink will be used for cooling (the
latest and greatest heat sinks can be found on Frostytech.com). The overclocking motherboard today
comes care of ASUS, the AMD890FX Crosshair IV Formula has so far
proved quite good.
Now onto
overclocking.
The
Phenom II X4 975 BE CPU operates with an 18x multiplier by default, so the first
step was to increase the multiplier to 19x, then 19.5x, 20x… 20.5x and 21x. The
multiplier was overclocked to 22x as well but this caused the system to
immediately crash at POST. In the end, PCSTATS was able to overclock the CPU
multiplier to a maximum of 21.5x, resulting in a clock speed of
4.31GHz. Not bad, but we’re aiming for higher speeds with this
chip!!
Overclocking Motherboard Bus
Speed
With the
Phenom II X4 975BE’s CPU multiplier reset to 18x, we set about overclocking by
bus speed this time. Starting from 200MHz, the Phenom II X4 975 BE processor was
rapidly overclocked by changing the bus speed to 220MHz, 230MHz and finally
240MHz. Higher clock speeds were tried but the system proved too unstable and
would crash while booting up Windows 7. The maximum overclock by bus speed alone
was thus 240MHz, or a processor clock speed of 4.334GHz — about
the same as before really.
Bus + Multiplier
Overclocking
For the
final round of overclocking fun, the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula motherboard had
its bus speed reset to 200MHz and AMD Phenom II X4 multiplier back to 18x.
The AMD Phenom II X4 975 BE was then overclocked with a combination of the two
parameters and like an 80’s montage this took a while…
To make a long overclocking story short, in the end
PCSTATSsettled on a 19.5x CPU
multiplier and 225MHz bus speed which left us with a maximum CPU overclock
of 4.402GHz. That’s a an overclock of
800MHz above the stock speed of the AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition processor
and not too bad at all! If you manage to overclock this chip higher, do let
PCSTATS know what settings and hardware you use.
Next up,
PCSTATS has several rounds of benchmarks to test the Phenom II X4’s
multi-threading capabilities and find out how it stacks up against Intel’s Core
i5 and Core i7 processors!
Prelude to Benchmarks
Over the
following page PCSTATS will be running AMD’s 3.6GHz quad-core AMD Phenom II X4
975 Black Edition processor though our standard set of gaming, productivity, and
multi-threaded processor benchmarks. There are a wide variety of real world and
synthetic benchmarks to illustrate the different performance qualities users can
expect from this quad-core socket AM3 AMD processor. Please take a moment to
look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual
benchmark results on the next several pages.
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Processor Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W)
AMD
Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W)
- Interface
- Core frequency
- Video memory size
- Memory type
- Memory frequency
- Maximum resolution
Description
AMD started selling AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W) in August 2009. This is a Deneb architecture desktop processor primarily aimed at home systems. It has 4 cores and 4 threads and is manufactured using 45nm process technology, the maximum frequency is 3400MHz, the multiplier is unlocked.
In terms of compatibility, this is an AMD Socket AM3 processor with a TDP of 140W. It supports DDR3 memory.
We don’t have any test results for the Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W).
General
Phenom II X4 Type (Desktop or Notebook) and Architecture Details
characteristics
Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W) quantitative parameters such as number of cores and threads, clock speeds, manufacturing process, cache size and multiplier lock state. They indirectly speak about the performance of the processor, but for an accurate assessment, you need to consider the results of the tests.
nine65 BE (140W) with other computer components. Useful, for example, when choosing the configuration of a future computer or to upgrade an existing one.
Please note that the power consumption of some processors can significantly exceed their nominal TDP even without overclocking. Some may even double their claims if the motherboard allows you to adjust the power settings of the processor.
Max. number of processors in configuration
Tests in benchmarkThese are the Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W) non-gaming benchmark performance test results. The overall score is set from 0 to 100, where 100 corresponds to the fastest processor at the moment. We don’t have any test results for Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W). We have 603 configurations based on Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W) in our database. According to statistics, these video cards are most often used with Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W): 6% 4% 4% 4% 3.3% 3.2% 2.7% 2.7% 2. 2% Here are the most powerful video cards used with Phenom II X4 965 BE (140W) according to user statistics: 0.3% (2/603) 0.5% (3/603) 0.2% (1/603) 0.2% (1/603) 0.3% (2/603) 0.2% (1/603) 0. 0.2% (1/603) 0.2% (1/603) 0.2% (1/603) User ratingHere you can see the rating of the processor by users, as well as put your own rating. Tips and commentsHere you can ask a question about the Phenom II X4 9 processor65 BE (140W), agree or disagree with our assessments, or report errors and inaccuracies on the site. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. AMD Phenom II X4 965 BEPhenom II X4 965 BECompare Phenom II X4 965 BE Main information0005Processor model BE Price $ 88 Processor type Deck Purpose Number of threads 4 threads Socket (socket) Socket AM2+, Socket AM3 Processor architecture Deneb Basic frequency 3400 MHz Auto Discontus No Free multiplier Yes processorTechnological process 45 Nm 9000. Thermal TDP 125W Maximum Temperature 62°C 64-bit Support Bus 2000 MHz 16-bit HyperTransport (4 GT/s) CASH 1st level L1 4×64+4×64 KB CASH 2nd level L2 512X4 KB CASH 3rd level L3 6144 KB RAM Controller RAM types DDR3-1600,DDR2-1066 Memory channels 2 Phenom II X4 performance rating 965 BE9 The general rating calculation method is selected, which means that the percentage of the rating is calculated regarding the most powerful processor participating on our site.
Rating calculation method:
0005 Passmark CPU Mark 2544 (2. Cinebench 11.5 (64-bit) Multipoque test 3.39 (3.21%) Cinebench 11.5 (64-bit) single-flow Test 0.7 (8.09%) Cinebench 15 (64-bit) Multipotive test 298.8 (2.83%) Cinebench 15 (64-bit) single-test test 77.76 (23 .2%) Geekbench 4.0 (64-bit) Multithread test 7214 (3.89%) Geekbench 4.0 (64-bit) Single-Treat test 2504 (15.92%) x264 HD 4.0 Pass 1 79.28 (3.07%%(3.07% ) X264 HD 4.0 Pass 2 18.28 (2.96%) 3DMark06 CPU 4381.12 (3.06%) Winrar 4.0 1938.37 (3.24%) (3.24%)
Positions in the ratingAttention! The general rating calculation method is selected, which means that the percentage of the rating is calculated regarding the most powerful processor participating on our site.
Rating calculation method:
Overall speed rating 1842 place (out of 3291) Passmark CPU Mark 1797 Place (out of 3279) Cinebench 11. (out of 3221) Cinebench 11.5 (64-bit) Single-threaded test 1415 place (out of 3215) 9be-bit 6-threaded test 0074 The ranking is involved in 3218 processors 1853 place (out of 3218) Cinebench 15 (64-bit) Single-Treaty Test 1657 Place (out of 3217) GEEKBENCH 4.0 (64- bit) Multi-threaded test 1914 place (out of 3209) Geekbench 4.0 (64-bit) Single-threaded test 0005 (out of 3209) x264 HD 4.0 Pass 1 1781 place (out of 3211) x264 HD 4.0 Pass 2 9000 1837 place (from from 3211) 3dmark06 CPU 1919 place (out of 3242) Winrar 4. 1698 (from 3212) 9000
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE Processor OverviewPhenom II X4 965 BE from AMD is a desktop processor that uses the Deneb core architecture in its device. Quad-core, powerful processor for work and play. The release of the processor took place in November 2009. Technical process 45 nanometers — the total number of transistors is 738 million. This processor is installed on motherboards with Socket AM2+, Socket AM3. Powerful enough processor when released in 2009 to provide the best PC gaming experience.
Competitors and analogues On Socket AM2+, Socket AM3, among competitors, we note models from AMD: Phenom II X4 975 BE, which appeared in 2011, Phenom II X4 970 BE based on Deneb architecture, Phenom II X4 955 BE based on Deneb microarchitectures, Phenom II X4 980 based on Deneb architecture, BE model on socket AM2+, Socket AM3 from the Phenom II family, Phenom II X4 B99, which appeared later. Intel’s rivals include the 2300 from the Core i5 family, the Core i7-930 based on the Bloomfield microarchitecture, the Core i5-2310 based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, the 2011 Core i5-2500S, the Core i7-870 based on the Lynnfield microarchitecture, and also the 940 model among the Core i7 processor line. |