Phenom II X6 ‘Thuban’ superslabs run six cores at 2.8GHz or 3.2GHz, with ‘Turbo Core’ boost to redline at 3.3GHz and 3.6GHz.
AMD has snared bragging rights in the desktop core war with the launch of its new six-core Phenom II X6 chip. Previously codenamed Thuban, the X6 follows the predictable AMD mantra of ‘more for less’.
In this case,
more is the processor cores – six of ‘em versus four in Intel’s mainstream Core i7 lines. And as is AMD’s wont,
less is the price: the first two X6 powerplants sell for A$254 and $371, which is one-third the cost of Intel’s six-core Core i7-980X.
For those who get off on processor porn, here are the X6's six cores for your viewing pleasure
Of course, it’s far from being a straight match: early reports around the Web indicate that the X6 delivers undeniable ‘bang for buck’ but is still outpaced by Intel’s affordable four-engine Core i7-920, which adds HyperThreading to the multi-core mix.
Never the less, the Phenom II X6 is destined to find its way into many workhorse rigs, especially the 1090T Black Edition, which for $371 runs at a nominal 3.2GHz with all six cores active and throttles up to 3.6GHz using AMD’s Turbo Core feature – similar to Intel’s Turbo Boost – with three cores running.
At $254, the X61055T drops those speeds to 2.8GHz and 3.3GHz respectively. Both processors have 6MB of shared L3 cache.
The matching AMD 890FX chipset can run up to four discrete graphics cards and supports 6Gb/s SATA. AMD also expects these Series 8 motherboards to deliver USB 3.0 to the desktop.
Also on AMD’s X6 roadmap but still to be released are the 1075T (3GHz nominal and 3.5GHz in turbo mode) and the 1035T (2.6GHz out of the gate and 3.1GHz at full clip).