AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor

Analysis and Conclusion:

There is no doubt that the Phenom II 965 is a worthy sucessor to the 955 and definitely brings with it a healthy speed bump and some delightful additional overclocking headroom. The 965 is a good value and easily fits into a budget better than any pairing of an i7 and X58 motherboard on the market. Releases like these always get my hopes up that AMD is nearly ready to take back the market leadership by storm and release a product that will go neck and neck with the i7’s.

The Phenom II 965 is not designed to compete with the i7’s as we have shown you, but rather to provide the larger consumer market with an excellent choice that wont suck the color out of your wallet, purse, or face when you see the pricetag. Instead I think we found ourselves quite pleased with the performance of the 965 and even happier with the overclocking potential.

Given the overall 140W TDP of the 965 Black Edition we feel that AMD might be pushing the envelope of what their Fab 36 now called Global Foundries’ can do. AMD will soon need a revamp of the architecture or to go to a small die fabrication to push speed and performance higher. At any rate the Phenom II 965 Black Edition will be introduced at the same price as the previous flagship the 955 which makes the value all the better.

Finally we feel that the Phenom II 965 represent the overall excellent value and performance combination that we rarely see on the market. Priced slightly above a low budget PC, the 965 delivers performance that is the polar opposite of its low price. For those users considering an Intel i7 based rig but who really dont want to spend the nearly $1000 it will take to outfit it right there is the Phenom II 965. Since its a Black Edition processor you know the multiplier is unlocked and you really have freedom to overclock. All factors considered the AMD Phenom II 965 deserves our AWESOME HARDWARE AWARD.

Well done AMD!

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