AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition AM3 Processor Review

A Closer Look
There is nothing fantastically new about the design of this CPU as it still follows the patented design that AMD have stuck with for quite some time now. Originally formed in the Athlon 64 days, it has been a tried and tested method through the years and does serve multiple purposes.

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The IHS/shim gives the best possible contact for the processor to the heatsink which in turn gives the best thermal performance and also stops the core of the CPU from being crushed by the cooler.

Another function is to display the relevant details that identify the processor including the series name (Phenom II), model (X2 555) and other codes that help denote the voltage and other main aspects of a processor.

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The Phenom II X2 555 operates at 3.2GHz, giving it a slight edge over its previous models but still sits below the likes of the 560 and 565 which also feature in the Phenom II X2 family. The processor sports 1Mb of L2 cache, 6MB shared L3 cache and is supported by the AM3 socket. It’s developed on a 45nm processor and has a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 80W.

Due to the fairly low TDP, the processor runs quite cool and efficient.