Power Consumption and Overclocking Results
Power ConsumptionIf there was one area that AMD was very conscious about, it is power consumption at both idle and load. I ran a CPU heavy/multi-threaded benchmark and observed the power draw at the wall. This obviously includes power going to the motherboard, video card, drives, and fans. The power supply is rated for at least 80% efficiency, so results obviously are not accurate for the CPU only.
I found it odd that the second lowest idle power is for the new 1075T. It is only a few watts lower than the next highest up, but this is a nice result when considering how much larger the X6 chips are than the Phenom II X4 and Athlon II native dies. Once things clock up though, then the 1075T is pulling nearly the same power as the faster 1090T.
Overclocking
There are three bright spots when it comes to overclocking these six CPUs. Two were expected, but one was a pleasant surprise.
Since the 1075T is not unlocked, users must rely on increasing the HTT clock to overclock the processor. Care must be taken to adjust the northbridge speeds, as well as memory speeds so things do not get too far out of kilter. I was able to easily take the 1075T to 3.5 GHz, but things became complicated after that. Users with more overclocking skill (and time) than me could probably approach 4 GHz, but it would take some effort.
A quick and nasty overclock. Note that at this speed, it doesn’t even surpass the Turbo Mode of the processor (3.5 GHz). With more time and effort, 3.9 GHz and slightly above is possible.
The Athlon II X4 645 and Athlon II X3 450 also were able to clock easily up to the 3.5 GHz to 3.6 GHz range, but soon ran out of gas after that. I did not expect these to clock very high, and I was not disappointed in my prediction.
AMD was quite excited about the potential of the Phenom II X4 970, and it delivered. I was able to achieve a stable overclock of 4 GHz at stock voltage. Temps did not get out of control, and the wattage coming from the wall only increased by about 20 watts overall. When applying 1.45 volts to the core, I was able to get to 4.2 GHz very easily. This is by far the fastest and most stable overclock of a Phenom II part that I have experienced. When the first Phenom IIs were released, water cooling was required to get above 3.9 GHz and plenty of volts. Now it is very easy to get to 4.2 GHz on good air cooling and a minimal voltage increase.
For the budget enthusiast who not only wants to overclock, but also gain a few cores, the Phenom II X2 560 delivers. In dual core mode I was able to get to 3.7 GHz at stock voltage, and then was able to push it to 4.1 GHz at 1.4 volts. Unlocking the extra cores did affect overclocking, and I was unable to get above 3.6 GHz and have any kind of stability. Mileage will really vary on this part, but it is fun to play around with. It can be quite flexible depending on the needs of the user, and at $105 it is a real bargain.
The most surprising part in my opinion is the little Athlon II X2 265. 3.3 GHz at stock speed is not exactly slow anymore, but by increasing the HTT to 230 MHz I was able to hit 3.79 GHz very easily. The chip, with a bit more massaging, was able to hit 4 GHz. For a $76 part, this really brought the wood. It is really an excellent gaming chip for the price, and once overclocked it shouldn’t have any problems with the latest content out there.
