AMD Gets its Act Together - Finally

We have to admit - the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor finally manages to hold its own turf against the competition in performance, power and price. Having put the processor through a whole range of benchmarks, the Phenom II X4 955 rivaled or bettered the performance of the Core 2 Quad 9550 and even the Core i7-920 systems we've put up for comparison in many of the tests. Even tasks like graphics rendering and video editing/transcoding, which are the usual mainstays of Intel since the days of the Core 2 Duo series, are now rivaled by AMD's latest Phenom II processor.

The Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor is definitely a processor AMD has long been waiting to showcase the tech world and it couldn't have come at a better time for the company.

If there's one area where we wished the Phenom II processors would buck-up, it's their 3D performance handling where the equivalent processors still managed a decent lead. Despite that, we have to say that the Phenom II X4 955 processor has narrowed the gap between itself and the Intel processors by leaps and bounds since the first Phenom hit the streets. 3D performance aside, several other benchmarks showcase how capable the newcomer is and we really have to give it credit.

Factor in the Phenom II X4 955 processor's price point, backward compatibility and upgradability, AMD has managed put out a processor that can finally tease Intel's dominance after 3 years. The Core 2 processor family at this juncture in time, though still performing well, is better suited for upgraders than those building new systems since its platform would soon be a dead-end. The Core i7 processors on the other hand are more expensive and require a whole system refresh. Yet the Phenom II processors, especially the X4 955 Black Edition is able to rival the entry-level Core i7 processor on almost all the verticals (except for 3D performance), and welcomes existing AM2/AM2+ platform owners as well as newcomers since the overall system price point is lower. If you're in for a value recommendation on the mid to high level performance scales and need a fine balance of price and power too, the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition is surely one that you should keep in mind.

In our opinion, AMD should have launched the Phenom II processor family with X4 955 Black Edition heading the pack and the AM3 platform way back in January - it would have surely made a strong statement to its dearest competitor and a godsend for all the AMD fans. Still, better late than never and it looks like AMD will be seeing sunnier days ahead if this newcomer is anything to judge it by.