Every time AMD releases a new processor, one question is on the tip of the tongues of enthusiasts everywhere: Is this the product to finally take the performance crown from Intel? I have to say that the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU isn’t that product. This latest CPU from the green machine is simply a revision to the previous Phenom II X4 955 CPU. As we know this line of processors is still only able to compete with Intel’s Core 2 Quad line of CPUs, rather than take on Intel’s Core i7 beast.
Introducing the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
On paper, the Phenom II X4 965 is essentially a pumped up 955. The CPU is clocked at 3.4GHz; a mere 200MHz over the previous top end 955 and retains the unlocked multipliers of its older brother. A plus has to be the clock speed as there hasn’t yet been a quad core CPU clocked at 3.4GHz out of the box. However, AMD has taken some risks in getting the CPU to that speed, releasing it with a TDP rating of 140W. We haven’t seen a TDP rating go that high on a CPU since Intel’s Prescott based Pentium 4. This is likely to make cooler manufacturers wince a little, and make it harder to get a decent overclock out of the CPU. It also may start to mark the end for this particular core in terms of future headroom.
Basically we’ve already looked at this line of processors and what it can do, so I’m mainly interested in seeing how much better the 965 performs over its predecessor. The key thing we are looking for here though is value. That is something AMD has been good at in this generation of chips, but with the 965 launch price set at $245 they’re within $50 of the price of an Intel Core i7 920. The motherboards for AMD are quite a bit cheaper which further solidifies the value proposition.
Anyhow, let’s get down to it and see how this CPU does.
The Test Rig
Since the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is essentially the same as the 955, testing the 965 required just a quick swap of the CPU. We’ve also made some slight updates to our test rig which includes a new video card, which is going to be the subject of a future review, and RAM that was bequiefed to us my Kingston in support of Fragapalooza 2009.
So here’s what hardware the Phenom II 965 was plugged into:
- GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P AM3 790FX Motherboard
- Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-1600 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- GIGABYTE GV-R489OC-1GD Radeon HD 4890 1GB DDR5 Video Card
- Kingston SSDnow V-Series 128GB Solid State Hard Drive
- Thermaltake SpinQ Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- HighSpeed PC Top Deck Tech Station
- Lian Li MAXIMA Force Extreme PS-A650GB 650W Power Supply
With such a close clock speed between these two processors, we are going to forgo a lot of the game testing performed in our normal CPU reviews. Most of our games are reliant on video card performance, and a 200MHz different between CPUs isn’t going to make an appreciable difference in gaming performance. Instead our testing is going to focus on processing power, and overclocking of this new core.
We will put the 965 through it’s paces in a number of suites, and even test thermal performance to see if the 140W TDP is anything to be worried about. Let’s go!
A Quick Peek at the CPU
Prior to running the benchmarks and trying to overclock the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU, I decided to get an idea of what specifications this CPU actually has while running stock settings. Most everything shows up as expected from this processor, with one notable difference. The core voltage, the voltage at which the CPU runs, is well under spec. The Phenom II 965 is rated to run at 1.40V on the core, and CPU-Z is detecting it running at 1.36V. This could simply be some voltage drop from our test motherboard, and means that either something is odd or we’re going to have a lot of voltage headroom to overclock this CPU.
Starting Simply with SiSoftware SANDRA
I decided to start the benchmarks off with SiSoftware SANDRA. This program features a series of stress tests and benchmarks that can be used to determine if a component is functional and how well it performs. Since we’re testing processors, I focused on tests that stress that component exclusively.
In the Processor Arithmetic test, the Phenom II 965 was 6% faster then the 955 in both the Dhrystone and Whetstone scores posted. This scales perfectly with the 6% speed increase given to the 965.
When I moved to the Processor Multimedia tests in SANDRA, I found the same trend continued. A total of 6% separated the numbers posted by the 955 from the the numbers posted by the 965. This is good news. It does indicate that the 965 scales properly in raw performance. However I’d still like to see more real world scenario in which we can judge the value of the 965.
A Better Vantage Point
Before moving onto some rendering tests and one quick foray into gaming, I figured we should take a run through PCMark Vantage. This benchmarking suite tries to replicate real world usage patterns and applications using a series of preset scripts. You can run any number of the scripts, or all of them, and it’ll take you any number of hours to complete all the tests.
For test purposes I stuck with the main test, plus the TV and Movies and Productivity tests. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, these two suites test multimedia and office based applications respectively.
Surprisingly the 965 performed 16% better then the 955 in overall scoring. The TV and Movies score was 8% higher for the 965. Looking the Productivity score I start to understand the performance gap on overall scoring. This test showed a whopping 25% performance increase for the 965. I’m don’t know whether to believe it or not, as everything in my test rig is the same except for the CPU, which was simply swapped. Still the results were reproducible, so either its a bug or the CPU (which is the same core with just 200MHz of extra speed) is really that good in office apps. Hopefully the rendering tests are a little more consistent (and conclusive).
Rendered From Nothing
Made by a company by the name of MAXON, CINEBENCH is rendering benchmark that tests your CPU and GPU for performance in 3D content creation. In the care of mutli-core or hyper-threaded CPUs, CINEBENCH will test both single and multiple core performance.
In both these tests the Phenom II X4 965 posted some more levelled scores. The single CPU score was about 6% faster and the multiple core score was about 5.5% faster. The missing half percent when compared to the increase in processor speed could be due to some playing about with the GPU. Still for a CPU using the same core but only 6% faster, these scores are what was expected.
3D rendering is all fine and dandy, but more users are rendering their own live video these days. Unfortunately it’s hard to find a rendering tool or program that takes full advantage of multi-core CPUs. For this reason we turn to Nero Recode 3, which can take any unprotected DVD and convert it into any number of video formats. For our testing, we chose the original Stargate movie for rendering. It may be old, but the many bright scenes and plentiful action give the rendering tools a good workout.
Once testing was completed (1.5 hours later since video rendering still takes time), we once again found that the 965 had pulled ahead of the 955 by a percentage close to its increase in clock speed. In this case the 965 was 5.5% faster then the 955.
Playing Away The Day
Now I know I said I wasn’t going to do any game benchmarks, and technically I’m still not. At least I’m not doing any real world game tests, which I’ll elaborate on in a moment. I still wanted to run through 3DMark Vantage and see if there was any performance different at all between the two CPUs, or if it’s really all on the graphics card. Turn’s out it’s all on the graphics card.
With the exception of the High performance test, there was less then 1% different between the 955 and 965. The High test seems to be an anomaly of averages. Gaming only seems to benefit when there’s new optimizations in a CPU, or a new core altogether. A 200MHz speed increase isn’t going to do it.
As for other games, the same story was repeated. In the two titles we use for CPU and mainboard testing, there was a statistically insignificant difference between the two CPUs.
Is It Hot In Here?
Since we plan on overclocking this CPU, I figured it was good idea to see what kind of thermal performance it has. After all we are working with a high TDP on the Phenom II 965. Turns out that at idle the 955 and 965 are near identical. The 965 is always within a half degree Celsius of the 955. Using OCCT to place 100% load on all four cores I found that the 965 does get a little hotter than the 955, if only a little. We can see a 1.5°C temperature increase in the 965 at full load. So in theory this CPU should have lot’s of room to overclock. I think we should find out.
Overclocking? Yes You Can!
Well I hear you can. Even with the excellent amounts of headroom afforded to me in the CPU voltage, I couldn’t get the Phenom II 965 to overclock to any significant level. Sure I could get it to 3.8GHz with little modification to CPU or Northbridge voltage, but beyond that lay dragons. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the Phenom II X4 965 to boot at 4GHz. I’ve seen a few other testers get the CPU to 4GHz and even 4.2GHz (though the latter was admittedly unstable), but I couldn’t get mine to boot at 4GHz.
This seemed odd as we were able to get the Phenom II 955 to a stable 4GHz at Fragapalooza, but that was using some pretty aggressive voltage settings and a very large CoolIT Systems Boreas liquid cooler which has the ability to cool to below ambient. This basically illustrates two points for us: (1) even the most unlocked of processors is still subject to the luck of the draw when it comes to overclockability, and (2) the Phenom II Deneb core seems to be reaching the end of the line. Luckily AMD does have a new core in the pipe and we hope it comes out soon as Intel’s new Core i5 is only a couple weeks away from official launch.
As with all overclocking endeavours, your mileage may vary…a lot in some cases.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
On that bombshell of a conclusion to the overclocking results, one has to wonder where to start with the overall summary of the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU. I guess we should start with performance, since that’s what people are most concerned with.
On that front I can safely say that the Phenom II 965 is the fastest performing processor released by AMD to date. It posted numbers that scaled with the increase in clock speed, and managed to maintain a competitive standing with Intel’s Core 2 Quad line of CPUs. Still there’s the question of overclocking, and the overall longevity of the current core used for the Phenom II 965.
While this is a Black Edition processor and therefore is completely multiplier unlocked, I still wasn’t able to overclock it very far. Your mileage may vary of course. The one saving grace is the fact the this CPU is unlocked, which should entice many enthusiasts who want to see how far they can push their CPUs with some even more aggressive cooling.
Is the Phenom II X4 965 worth it? Especially considering on launch this CPU is priced the same as the 955 when it was first launched (and is now only $199 US), it comes down to the question of whether you want a guaranteed 3.4GHz, or try your hard at overclocking to save $50. When you take into consideration the price of a good motherboard, the AMD combo is still cheaper than any comparable Intel package. Once AMD revises the core on the Phenom II, things should get much more interesting and interesting they shall get with Intel’s Core i5 on the way.
In the end, the release of the Phenom II X4 965 is a good thing for AMD. It shows that they are able to push their silicon pretty far to put out a decent performing product. The price of that product also deserves praise, as many budget minded games will be looking towards AMD for their gaming systems.
Pros
- Currently the fastest AMD CPU to date
- Good performance
- Low price compared to competition
- Unlocked, making overclocking attempts easier
Cons
- Not a lot of overclocking headroom left
- High TDP = Almost Too Hot to Overclock
- Still chasing Phenom II X4 955 in value race
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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