Testing AMD's Five New CPUs

 Earlier this month introduced six new processors, exclusively intended for budget and mainstream systems. Ranging in price from $113 (for the Core i3-530) to $284 (for the Core i5-670), these chips offered a lot of performance variety for reasonable prices—with the added benefit of integrated graphics capabilities built right in. So it's not that surprising that the competition isn't far behind: AMD announced today that it's releasing five new desktop CPUs of its own, also spread across the lower and middle price ranges.
In terms of big surprises, there's only one: the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition. AMD boasts that this chip is its "fastest-ever dual-core desktop processor," with a clock speed of 3.2 GHz and, as its name implies, an unlocked multiplier for those who want to sate a craving for overclocking. They don't have to spend a ton of money to do it, however: The X2 555 Black Edition lists for just $99, and its TDP of 80 watts won't be piling onto most people's power bills.
Otherwise, the new CPUs offer a fairly typical blend of filling out and rebalancing the line. There are three Athlon II CPUs, the X2 255 ($74), the X3 440 ($84), and the X4 635 ($119); and another Phenom II, the $169 X4 910e, which has a maximum TDP of 65 watts. All the CPUs use AMD's AM3 socket.
The full specs for AMD's newly released processors are as follows:

Processor Name	Clock Speed	# of Cores	L1 Cache	L2 Cache	L3 Cache
Phenom II X2 55 Black Edition	3.2 GHz	Two	256KB	1MB	6MB (shared)
Athlon II X4 635	2.9 GHz	Four	512KB	2MB	N/A
Athlon II x3 435	3.0 GHz	Three	384KB	1.5MB	N/A
Athlon II X2 255	3.1 GHz	Two	256KB	2MB	N/A
Phenom II X4 910e	2.6 GHz	Four	512KB	2MB	6MB (shared)

AMD sent us test units of each of its five new CPUs to play with and compare. Our findings start on the next page.