CPU Guide

Compare This

AMD Athlon II X4 630

05 Dec 2009

Tags: (none)

Filter by Manufacturers

AMD
Intel

HWZ's Overall Rating: 8.0

<div id="product-review" class="article">
			<h2 class="header-green">The Cheapest Quad-Core Processors - AMD Athlon II X4 630 &amp; 620</h2>
		<span class="byline">Article by Vincent Chang on Saturday, 05 Dec 2009</span>
		<div class="share">
	<div
		id="addthis_div_519f543b45d24" 
		class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style"
		addthis:url="http://www.hardwarezone.com/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620"		addthis:title="The Cheapest Quad-Core Processors - AMD Athlon II X4 630 &amp; 620"	>
		<a class="addthis_button_google_plusone" g:plusone:count="false"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a>
		
		<a class="addthis_button_email"></a>
	</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 		//AddThis thing
		addthis_share = window.addthis_share || {};
		addthis_share.url_transforms = {
			add: {
				utm_source: 'addthis',
				utm_medium: 'referral',
				utm_campaign: 'addthis',
				utm_content: 'The%2BCheapest%2BQuad-Core%2BProcessors%2B-%2BAMD%2BAthlon%2BII%2BX4%2B630%2B%26%2B620'
			}
		}
		
		addthis_config = window.addthis_config || {};
		addthis_config.data_track_clickback = true;
		addthis_config.data_ga_property = 'UA-166763-1';
		//window.addthis && addthis.toolbox (".addthis_toolbox");
		 
	});
//]]>
</script>		<div class="content resizeable">
						<div id="page-1" class="page">
		 		<h2 class="page-title">Relief for AMD</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">Relief for AMD</h3>
<p>What a November for AMD! Starting with a US$1.25 billion-dollar <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/news/view.php?id=15092&amp;cid=12">cash payment from Intel</a> to settle a lawsuit over alleged anti-competitive trade practices, AMD also managed to close all outstanding legal and patent issues with its rival, which means that Intel will not contest AMD's divestment of its manufacturing assets to GlobalFoundries. As the first step towards its financial rehabilitation, AMD seriously needs GlobalFoundries to work and succeed, while the cash from Intel will be very useful as AMD tries to get back into profitability.</p>
<p>And that's not all. The company announced plans for its <a target="_blank" href="http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/11/amd-bobcat-bulldozer.ars">next-gen CPU architecture</a>, laying out the roadmap to 2011, including the much talked about Fusion initiative, which integrates graphics with the CPU. There are still many questions left unanswered and 'what-if' scenarios but there's no doubt that November has been a great month for AMD. Mind you, we haven't even started on the highs from AMD's graphics division, with the Radeon HD 5800 series stomping uncontested at the top now that the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&amp;id=3072">dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970</a> is available. Or even the recent news that this year's <a target="_blank" href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39882263,00.htm">top three supercomputers</a> used AMD's latest six-core 'Istanbul' Opteron processors.</p>
<p>Of course, after the euphoria dies down, the fact remains that it will be a bumpy road to 2011 for AMD. The current CPU microarchitecture is comprehensively outclassed by Intel's Nehalem and with the chip giant going to the 32nm manufacturing node early next year, chances are that AMD will find itself being squeezed out from the middle to the entry/budget and performance computing segments. It is the budget segment that we'll be looking at today, with AMD releasing a cut-down version of its Phenom II processors dubbed the Athlon II.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img alt="" class="caption" title="The AMD Athlon II X4 630 and 620." src="http://images.hardwarezone.com/upload/files/2010/02/83d0c70613.jpg" /></p>
<p class="rteleft">This new series will have the most affordable quad-core processors ever, with the lower model, the Athlon II X4 620 going for just US$99. Compare that with Intel's cheapest quad-core, the Q8200 at US$150 and one can see where AMD is going here. Low and lower. How does AMD keep the cost down?</p>
<p>The answer is the removal of the L3 cache that's found on the Phenom II. The entire Athlon II series, which includes dual, triple and quad-cores do not have this cache, allowing AMD to reduce the die size and hence the manufacturing cost. Everything else remains the same, though the Athlon II X4 comes with a lower 95W TDP rating as a result. The new die, Propus, will be used in all Athlon II X4 processors. <em>There's a slim chance that you may get a disabled Phenom II chip when you purchase one of these new Athlon II X4s but as time passes, it will be less and less likely.</em></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img alt="" class="caption" title="The CPU-Z listing for the new AMD Athlon II X4 630 (Propus). The lack of L3 cache appears to be the most significant change." src="http://images.hardwarezone.com/upload/files/2010/02/240b748a3a.bmp" /></p>
<p class="rteleft">Currently, there are only two quad-core models for the Athlon II, the X4 630 and 620. AMD also has two, energy efficient 'e' models that we won't be covering here. These are 45W versions that have much lower clock speeds. Anyway, below are the vital statistics for the X4 630 and 620:</p>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1" align="center" width="95%" style="table-layout: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
    <caption>The New Athlon II X4 Quad-Core CPUs</caption>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th rowspan="1" colspan="9">New AM3 Athlon II X4 Processors</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Processor Model</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Clock Speed</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">L2 Cache</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">L3 Cache</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">HyperTransport Bus</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Memory Controller Speed</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Max TDP (W)</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Retail Price (US$)</th>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Availability</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Athlon II X4 630</th>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.8GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">512KB x 4</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">NA</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.0GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.0GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">95</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">$123</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">Now (PiB)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th align="center" valign="middle">Athlon II X4 620</th>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.6GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">512KB x 4</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">NA</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.0GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">2.0GHz</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">95</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">$99</td>
            <td align="center" valign="middle">Now (PiB)</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
<p>Since the technology is hardly new, we'll be going straight into the testing and benchmarks. For those who are interested in the specifics, we have a table comparing the Phenom II quads with the Athlon II and Intel's Core 2 quad processors on the next page.</p>			</div>
		</div>
			<div class="pagination" >
		<span class="desc">Page 1 of 11</span>
		<ul>
			<li class="prevnext prev"><a href="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620" class="disabled">&lsaquo; Prev</a></li>
			<li class="skip">
				<form id="PageAddForm" method="post" action="/go"><fieldset style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST" /></fieldset>					<select name="data[Page][url]" class="page-selector" id="PageUrl">
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620" selected="selected">Relief for AMD</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/entry-quad-cores-compared">Entry Quad Cores Compared</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/test-setup-5">Test Setup</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-sysmark-2007-preview-3">Results - SYSmark 2007 Preview</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-futuremark-pcmark05-pro-2">Results - Futuremark PCMark05 Pro</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-lightwave-3d-75">Results - Lightwave 3D 7.5</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-3ds-max-8-sp2-and-cinebench-10">Results - 3ds Max 8 (SP2) and Cinebench 10</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-futuremark-3dmark06-aquamark3">Results - Futuremark 3DMark06 &amp; AquaMark3</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/results-world-conflict-crysis">Results - World in Conflict &amp; Crysis</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/power-consumption-overclocking">Power Consumption &amp; Overclocking</option>
<option value="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/conclusion-11">Conclusion</option>
</select>					<input type="submit" class="submit" value="Go" />				</form>			</li>
			<li class="prevnext next"><a href="/feature-cheapest-quad-core-processors-amd-athlon-ii-x4-630-620/entry-quad-cores-compared" class="">Next &rsaquo;</a></li>
		</ul>
	</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var container = document.getElement ('#product-review'),
			content = container && container.getElement ('.content'),
			pagination = container && container.getElement ('.pagination'),
			form = pagination && pagination.getElement ('form'),
			menu = form && form.getElement ('.page-selector'),
			links = {
				prev: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.prev a'),
				next: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.next a')
			},
			page = -1,
			desc = 'Page {curPage} of {lastPage}'
		;

// Tag as Javascript-enabled
		pagination.addClass ('js');

menu.addEvent ('change', function (e)
		{
			var curPage = this.selectedIndex + 1,
				lastPage = this.length,
				url = this.get ('value'),
				pageContent = container && container.getElement ('.page')
			;

// Disable controls
			menu.set ('disabled', 'disabled').blur ();
			if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', .5);

new Request.HTML ({
				'url': url,
				'method': 'get',
				'link': 'cancel',
				'update': content,
				'onSuccess': function ()
				{
					// Update controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					links.prev
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage > 1)? curPage - 2: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage > 1)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					links.next
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage < lastPage)? curPage: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage < lastPage)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					pagination.getElement ('.desc').set ('text', desc.substitute ({ curPage: curPage, lastPage: lastPage}));

captureIntraLinks ();
					new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement (container);
				},
				'onFailure': function ()
				{
					// Restore controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', 1);
				}
			}).send ();
		});
		$$([links.prev, links.next]).addEvent ('click', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			if (!this.hasClass ('disabled'))
				menu.set ('value', this.get ('href')).fireEvent ('change');
		});
		form.addEvent ('submit', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		})

// Capture all intra-page links and hook to js
		function captureIntraLinks ()
		{
			content.getElements ('a[href^="#"]').flatten().each (function (link)
			{
				var target = link.get ('href').substr (6).trim ();
				if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length)
					link.addEvent ('click', function (e)
					{
						e.stop (); this.blur ();
						menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
						menu.fireEvent ('change');
					});
			});
		}
		captureIntraLinks ();

// Trigger initial pagination state
		var target = location.hash && location.hash.substr (6).trim ();
		if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length && target != page)
		{
			menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>
				<div class="footer">
		
<div class="tags" style="">
	<span class="label" style="">Tags:</span> <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/465-athlon-ii">athlon ii</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/466-amd">amd</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/467-quad-core">quad-core</a></div>
		</div>
				</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var section = $('tab-product-content-review'),
			dropdown = section.getElement ('#reviews-list'),
			tId = 0
		;

if (section && dropdown)
		{
			var list = dropdown.getElement ('ul'),
				links = list.getElements ('li a')
			;

dropdown.addClass ('js');
			list.set ('morph', { 'link': 'cancel' });

$$(dropdown, list).addEvents ({
				'mousemove': function ()
				{
					$clear (tId);
				},
				'mouseenter': function ()
				{
					list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 1 });
				},
				'mouseleave': function ()
				{
					tId = function () { list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 0}); }.delay (1000);
				}
			}).fireEvent ('mouseleave');

links.addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				//unescape the 'alt' prooperty
				var o = new Element('i', { 'html': this.get ('alt')});
				new Request.HTML ({
					'url': o.get('text') + '&as=ajax',
					'method': 'get',
					'link': 'cancel',
					'update': section.empty().grab(new Element('div')
						.addClass ('waiter')
						.grab (new Element ('span', {
							text: 'Please wait while we load your article ...'
						}))
					)
				}).send ();
			})

section.getElements ('.footer .comments a').addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($('tab-product-details'));

var href = this.get ('href').match (/#.+$/), target = href && href[0];
				if (target)
					(function () { new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($(target.substr (1))); })
						.delay (3000);

$('tab-product-comments').getChildren ('a')[0].fireEvent ('click');
			})
		}
		if( $$('.image-caption-container').length < 1 )
		{	
			$$('.article .content img[title]').each (function (img)
			{
				// skip if title is empty
				if (!img.get ('title')) return;
			
				new Element ('span', {'class': 'image-caption-container'})
					.addClass (['left', 'right'].contains (img.get ('align'))? img.get ('align'): '')
					.set ('width', img.get ('width'))
					.replaces (img)
					.grab (img)
					.grab (new Element ('div', {
						'class': 'image-caption',
						'html': img.get ('title').trim ()
					}))
				;
				img.erase ('align');
			
				var link = img.getParents ('a');
				if (link) link.addClass ('captioned');
			});
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>

CPU Guide

AMD Athlon II X4 630

Filter by Manufacturers

You may also be interested in...