AMD's Athlon II X3 435 & New Energy Efficient CPUs: Killing Intel Below $90
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 20, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Final Words
We'll start with the good news first. The Athlon II X3 435, priced at $87, is a better buy than any of the similarly priced Intel dual-core processors. In heavily threaded applications it's even faster than the more expensive Core 2 Duo E7500. Compared to Intel, the X3 435 is a clear value leader.
The problem is compared to AMD, the Athlon II X3 435 isn't that impressive. The Athlon II X4 620 is faster in nearly every multithreaded benchmark, and it's only costs $12 more. It's only in games and other lightly threaded applications where the 435's higher default clock speed makes up for its lack of a fourth core.
The Athlon II X3 435 is about $15 more expensive than it should be to make sense in AMD's lineup. It's a great step between the dual and quad-core options, but if you need the performance you're probably better off with the 620.
You do get better overclocking potential (thanks to lower thermal output of only three cores), but bring overclocking into the mix and you can narrow the clock speed gap with an overclocked 620.
Compared to Intel, I like the Athlon II X3 435. Compared to AMD, I'd take a quad-core 620.
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maddoctor - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
No, Bulldozer will never come because Intel will kill it with Sandy Bridge and if they successfully launch it, its fates will like Barcelona failure. I believe after this failure, Intel will make everyone happay with its cheaper product because Intel does not need a competitor. I like this situation.SunSamurai - Sunday, November 1, 2009 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=96&a...">http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=96&a...Oh look a cheaper AMD CPU outperforming a more expensive Intel CPU
SUCK ON IT.
maddoctor - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
AMD Bulldozer hype will be ended with the most powerful processor in the world with Intel Sandy Bridge. BTW, If you have realized that Intel is better, don't go with crappy AMD processor. They could not design a processor like powerful Intel Processor.maddoctor - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Good argument, these craps are better to placed it in the toilet. Who will buy these craps except AMDiot.narrenschip - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
What are the parameters/settings for the blender redering test? The description mentions 'a character that comes with the application', but as far as I know, there are no models/scenes included with the program.W;-)
Gary Key - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
We utilize the Flying Squirrel image for our render benchmark -http://graphicall.org/bbb/chars/flyingsquirrel.ble...">http://graphicall.org/bbb/chars/flyingsquirrel.ble...
deimos3428 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
It's nice to see some more low-end chips come out, but I'm not sure that there's all that much of a market for anything between say an Athlon II X2 240 and a Phenom II X2 550/Athlon II X4 620. Choice is good, but too much choice can get very confusing.Taft12 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
That's why they're phasing out the Phenom II X2 and X3. It's a confusing time because there is a lot of Phenom II in the channel still, but soon the 705e, 905e, 945, 955 and 965 will be the only Phenom II CPUs available, the rest will be Athlon II.deimos3428 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Which has nothing to do with blender rendering. Oops.Slash621 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
I am extremely happy that you are utilizing an excel benchmark. I operate some huge models between access and excel and learning which processor will provide the best bang for the buck is of great business importance to me. Thanks again for all your hard work Anandtech Crew!