AMD is called as the budget king. They have many processors that appeals to budget class segment. AMD have quietly released this new Phenom II X4 840, and the surprising part is the price of this new Quad Core and its performance. But we will come to the pricing part later on.
Firstly let’s take a look at its technical specifications:
Socket type: AM3
Quad Core
Operating Frequency: 3.2 GHz
L2 Cache: 4 x 512KB
Manufacturing technology: 45 nm
Propus Core
64 Bit support
Virtualization technology
Thermal Design Power: 95W
Looks interesting, right. This new member of Phenom series is targeted towards budget segment. You may be wondering why, now I think the pricing should be revealed. This baby costs $109. Yes, you read it right and this is not a typo. A Quad Core, Phenom II processor at this price is really a sweet deal.
On Newegg, Phenom II X4 840 costs $109.
Let’s take a look at CPU-Z and what it reveals:
Did you find something suspicious by looking at this ? Yes, this one is different from other Phenom models and the one point that differentiates is the L3 cache. Phenom II X4 840 doesn’t have L3 cache like in every other Phenom models. I think AMD have done this to lower down its costs. Prior to this model, there was Athlon II X4 645, which is clocked at 3.0 GHz, which is also a Quad Core Propus and costs $100. I think instead of releasing another processor named as Athlon II X4 650, they have renamed it to Phenom II X4 840. A smart move, or a deceiving move, you can decide that. This processor will really confuse some buyers, as they will think that this model will also have L3 cache.
This processor, like any other Athlon II or Phenom II, is backwards compatible with AM2+ boards and DDR2 memory. Ofcourse the performance will improve if you use DDR3 RAM, and currently prices of DDR3 RAM are going down and they are becoming really affordable. But if you own an older motherboard with DDR2 RAM and AM2+ motherboard, then this processor will perfectly fit in there, because of its compatibility.
Phenom II X4 840 is based on C3 revision of Propus core, and therefore this one also consumes less power and lower heat. The TDP is set to 95W.
Conclusion
Well, this one really has got some pros and cons of its own.
Pros:
Very attracting pricing (thus, affordable Quad Core performance)
Fast clocked budget Quad Core
Compatibility with AM2+ motherboards
Would be great for multi threaded applications
Cons:
No L3 cache, as expected from Phenom II processors
Low gaming performance, because of lack of L3 cache
Final Words:
For people, who want value for money (VFM), this processor will really appeal to them. In true sense, this can be really called as budget Quad Core processor. If you were thinking to buy AMD Athlon II X4 645, which is the cheapest Quad Core processor, then now you should forget that and instead go for this one. It can be said that instead of making Athlon II X4 series faster, they have done re branding. Propus core clocked at 3.2 GHz, this one really has got improved performance. Applications, games and Operating Systems which utilize all the four cores, will benefit much from this Quad core.
It may also be possible that buyers who don’t know about the lack of L3 cache will also buy this, but then ultimately they will get what they paid for. AMD is offering this processor in such a bargain price that we can not even complain about its minus points. With attractive price of $109, this one will be perfect for building mainstream, gaming or budget computers. AMD really dominates this budget market and they have showed this once again. Intel on the other part, doesn’t have any competitor at this price point, still. A market with competition is good for buyers, so let’s see what comes from Intel’s camp. But currently if you are thinking to build a budget PC, then go for this one.
Price of AMD Phenom II X4 840 in India is Rs. 5250.
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