AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor

Introducing AMD’s New Flagship

With each new release from AMD they are able to fine tune their processors a bit more than before. We are talking about more than just adding a few exta clock cycles or a bump in speed. There are more subtle changes that result in a product that meets consumers needs much better. AMD has not forgotten that many of their consumers are overclockers and we will be of course taking a look at how the newly announced Phenom II 965 Black Edition does in the overclocking arena but first lets take a look at the shiny new CPU.

Sporting a default speed of 3.4GHz the 965 comes in 200MHz faster than the previous flagship the 955. This is in keeping with AMD’s overall history and planning. The 965 raises the ceiling in terms of maximum TDP but we have also been told it should be a better overclocker. We will put that to the test later, but for now here are the stats:

Phenom™ II X4 965 Black Edition Specifications:

Model Number & Core Frequency: 3.4GHz

Official Pricing at Launch: $245 (US)

L1 Cache Sizes: 64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes: 512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size:  6MB (shared)
Total Cache (L2+L3):  8MB

Memory Controller Type: Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller *
Memory Controller Speed: Up to 2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
Types of Memory Supported: Unregistered DIMMs up to PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) -AND- PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333MHz)
HyperTransport 3.0 Specification: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)
Total Processor-to-System Bandwidth:

• Up to 37.3GB/s total bandwidth [Up to 21.3 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR3-1333) + 16.0GB/s (HT3)]
• Up to 33.1GB/s total bandwidth [Up to 17.1 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR2-1066) + 16.0GB/s (HT3)]

Packaging: Socket AM3 938-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)Fab location:
GLOBALFOUNDARIES Fab 1 module 1 in Dresden, Germany (formerly AMD Fab 36)
Process Technology: 45-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology

Approximate Die Size: 258 mm2
Approximate Transistor count: ~ 758 million
Max Temp: 65 Celsius
Nominal Voltage: 0.825-1.425V
Max TDP: 140 Watts

As you can see the new Max TDP goes to 140W which is a bit high but not unexpected for the top end AMD CPU. Other noteworthy specs include the $245 pricing which holds the line for the flagship and also means that you can expect the 955’s to drop in price almost immediately.  AMD has informed us that the new 965 will be available from the following vendors at least initially:

• NewEgg
• TigerDirect
• ZipZoomFly
• NCIX
• MWAVE

Official pricing can be found here.

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