AMD Releases Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Processor

The processor is unlocked to enable gamers and PC enthusiasts to optimize total system performance.

Advanced Micro Devices added its fastest quad-core processor to the AMD Phenom II desktop processor family-the PhenomTM II X4 980 Black Edition processor. When combined with the company's 8-series chipset and AMD RadeonTM HD 6000 series graphics cards, the Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition processor enables an immersive computing experience that provides advanced high-definition entertainment and multitasking capabilities.

The Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition processor is unlocked to enable gamers and PC enthusiasts to overclock and optimize system performance. This quad-core processor operates at 3.7GHz with 6MB of L3 cache and a thermal design power of 125W. In addition, AMD CoolCore technology reduces energy consumption by turning off unused parts of the processor. For example, the memory controller can turn off the write logic when reading from memory, helping reduce system power. It works automatically without the need for drivers or BIOS enablement, and power can be switched on or off within a single clock cycle, saving energy with no impact to performance.

The processor also features Dual Dynamic Power Management, which enables more granular power-management capabilities to reduce processor energy consumption. Separate power planes for cores and memory controller, for optimum power consumption and performance, create more opportunities for power savings within the cores and the memory controller. This helps improve platform efficiency by providing on-demand memory performance while still allowing for decreased system power consumption.

AMD virtualization technology, with rapid virtualization indexing, is a silicon feature-set enhancement that is designed to improve the performance, reliability, and security of virtualization environments. It accomplishes this by allowing virtualized applications with direct and rapid access to their allocated memory, which the company said helps virtualization software run more securely and efficiently.

In addition, AMD64 with direct-connect architecture helps improve system performance and efficiency by directly connecting the processors, the memory controller, and the I/O to the CPU. The technology is designed to enable simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing, while an integrated memory controller increases application performance by reducing memory latency and scales memory bandwidth and performance to match computing needs.

The company also introduced the Radeon E6760 embedded discrete graphics processor. AMD said the Radeon E6760 GPU is the first of its kind to offer embedded-system designers the combination of OpenCL support along with support for six independent displays. The GPU can also be paired with AMD's upcoming high-performance A-Series APU (Accelerated Processing Units), code-named "Llano," to offer additional graphics capability and additional parallel-computing power.

"The Radeon E6760 GPU secures AMD's position as a provider of the highest-performance graphics processors available today for embedded devices," said Dan Joncas, vice president of sales at ALT Software, which provides embedded graphics software products and development services to semiconductor, operating system and computing devices. "With remarkable graphics performance and video support, power-management functions for resource-constrained devices, and OpenCL support to unlock the GPU's parallel processing capabilities, the Radeon E6760 GPU allows OEMs to differentiate their products from competitors by bringing new levels of performance and functionality to their embedded devices."