Conclusion

With the Phenom II X4 955 BE only recently eclipsed by the 965 BE in terms of raw speed, the former is still a very impressive CPU that should be able to compete well with Intel’s quad core range. The overclocking, with air cooling, is still somewhat limited and this does perhaps give Intel the edge, but take nothing away from the 955BE.

The upgradability is much better than Intel’s offerings with the AM3 CPUs compatible with not only AM2+ processors but also containing a dual DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller.

In terms of cost of the other components, an X58 motherboard is far higher than many AM3 boards which in the case of MSI’s 770-C45 can be had for about £60 now. If you’re looking for a cheaper option to the i7 which won’t give too much of a performance drop, the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition would certainly be a good contender.

With other added incentives such as the BEMP and other features found within AMD’s OverDrive, the attraction of an AMD Black Edition processor is certainly increasing and the 955 would be near top of our list. Indeed a very good showing from AMD – good job!

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Thanks go to AMD for providing us with this CPU

This review was syndicated on tech seed.