Two
3.1GHz
HyperTransport 3.0
2MB
The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition processor offers the same architecture, 45-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process, and unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking as AMD’s flagship CPU, the quad-core, $245 Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition—just with half as many CPU cores. But we came to a surprising conclusion with this $102 dual-core chip: For most users, it's actually a much better value than AMD's quad-core speedster, which costs nearly two and a half times as much. At 3.1GHz, it’s clocked just a hair slower than the 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955, and for users who don’t regularly edit video or work with large files in Adobe’s Creative Suite, it's a very smart purchase. Not only does this dual-core CPU offer speedy performance with the right amount of cores for most users, but it supports older AM2+ motherboards and cheap DDR2 RAM. If you’re strapped for cash, you can drop this X2 processor into an existing AMD-based system right now for a quick-and-easy speed boost. Later on, when the cost of the surrounding hardware falls, you can carry it over to a newer AM3 motherboard that uses speedier DDR3 RAM.
With all the hype surrounding expensive quad-core processors like Intel’s Core i7 and AMD’s Phenom II X4 lines, it’s easy to forget that relatively few programs can actually take advantage of more than one processor core at a time. Having multiple cores is important for multitasking, of course, so that one processor-intensive task doesn’t bog down your whole system, but the average user isn’t likely to be doing more than a couple of these tasks at once. Apart from multithreaded programs like Sony’s Vegas Pro 9, Adobe’s Creative Suite, and a handful of other apps, the vast majority of programs aren’t written to make use of more than one processor core simultaneously. That means for the average PC user—and, for that matter, even the hard-core gamer—a quad-core processor is overkill, even wasteful, considering that half the processor is going to be idle (but still often sucking power) nearly all of the time. As a result, smart, budget-conscious PC builders and upgraders who want speed but don’t often use the aforementioned apps would be smart to stick to dual-core CPUs such as the Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition. Chips in its class offer speed and up-to-date architecture, without the cost of extra cores that are likely to go unused.
In our tests, the Phenom II X2 550 proved that it has more than enough muscle to tackle today’s everyday-computing tasks. It's significantly speedier than AMD’s recent $79 Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition, and in tasks that don’t tax multiple CPU cores, it wasn’t significantly slower than the flagship Phenom II X4 955 chip. The Phenom II X2 550 took 4 minutes and 39 seconds to complete our CPU-intensive Sony Vegas 8 MPEG-2 Render test, a task that the quad-core Phenom II X4 955 completed in 3 minutes and 25 seconds, a little more than a minute faster. By contrast, the Athlon X2 7850 CPU came in a distant third, taking nearly twice as long (9 minutes and 10 seconds).
In our PCMark Vantage test, a comprehensive system hardware workout, we didn't note nearly as dramatic a difference between the dual-core offerings running in our test rig as we did in the Vegas test. The Phenom II X2 550 scored 4,623, and the Athlon X2 7850 managed 4,109. (The Phenom II X4 955, on the other hand, scored a decidedly better 6,152.) In our Cinebench 10 test, which is written specifically to tax multiple CPU cores, the scores were more equidistant, with the Athlon X2 7850 turning in 4,777, the Phenom II X2 550 bumping up nicely to 6,697, and the high-end Phenom II X4 955, predictably, hitting five digits with a showing of 10,454.
Finally, in our iTunes AAC conversion test, we saw just how little multiple CPU cores matter in many real-world apps, especially when the clock speeds of two given CPUs are similar. The 3.1GHz Phenom II X2 550 took 3 minutes and 8 seconds to convert our 11 test files; the 2.8GHz Athlon X2 7850 took 23 seconds longer, while the quad-core 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955 got the job done only 10 seconds faster.
Like all Black Edition processors, the Phenom II X2 550 is unlocked for overclocking, which adds to its value, as well. (Note, though, that AMD does temper that support with a clear caveat that damage from overclocking isn't covered by warranty.) AMD's OverDrive 3.0 software app offers extensive control over speeds and voltages, like earlier versions, and it has a number of features to simplify the overclocking process. The first, Black Edition Memory Profiles, lets you automatically set optimal performance for supported DDR3 memory modules. Another, AMD Smart Profiles, can adjust settings on the fly for specific applications and games. For example, if a game takes advantage of only one of the Phenom II X2's two processor cores, AMD OverDrive can boost the speed of that one core, while reducing the performance of the other. The initial release of OverDrive 3.0 includes 20 Smart Profiles, focusing on games and benchmarking applications; you can also create your own.
