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The thumb screws on AMD are getting tighter and tighter with Intel’s release of Sandy Bridge getting closer and closer while we still have not heard anything definitive about the planned release of Bulldozer to fight back. At the same time, like it or not, the Thuban core-based Phenom II X6 series is a pretty darn good processor. Even if it does not reach the performance of Gulftown, Intel ‘s current flagship processor, it can compete on price with most of the current line-up from the blue camp. As with wine, or single malts, processors tend to get better with age, process refinements are usually increasing yield and headroom over time until it is time for the next change of guards. Accordingly, every processor design we have seen has undergone some speed bumps and in some cases, these speed bumps were bigger, sometimes they were smaller and sometimes they just increased the frequency but the performance pretty much stalled because of interface limitations.
One thing that has always happened, though, is that a release of new SKUs at the top caused price drops at the lower end, by extension, even yesterday’s top model is all of a sudden affordable. That’s pretty much the story we are telling today: a moderate speed bump of the fastest hex-core that sends prices of the lower models spiraling into realms reserved previously for budget processors. Welcome the Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
The Phenom II X6-1100T will become the new flagship processor in AMD's desktop line-up with the other "X6" models dropping in price. Currently, there have been no announcements regarding the 1055T which is still listed at price parity with the 1075T, and which will be available as long as there is inventory. It can be expected, though that the 1055T will be discounted below the official pricing structure to a street price around $170,- making it an absolute steal.
For reference, here is the entire current lineup of AMD's desktop CPUs.
| Processor | Clock Speed | L2 Cache | L3 Cache | TDP | Price |
| Thuban (X6) | | | | | |
| Phenom II X6 1100T | 3.3/3.7GHz | 3MB | 6MB | 125W | $265 |
| Phenom II X6 1090T | 3.2/3.6GHz | 3MB | 6MB | 125W | $235 |
| Phenom II X6 1075T | 3.0/3.5GHz | 3MB | 6MB | 125W | $199 |
| Phenom II X6 1055T | 2.8/3.3GHz | 3MB | 6MB | 125W | Discounted |
| Deneb (X4) | | | | | |
| Phenom II X4 970 BE | 3.5GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 125W | $185 |
| Phenom II X4 965 BE | 3.4GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 125W | $165 |
| Phenom II X4 955 BE | 3.2GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 125W | $145 |
| Phenom II X4 945 | 3.0GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 125W | $145 |
| Phenom II X4 925 | 2.8GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 125W | $145 |
| Phenom II X4 910e | 2.6GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 65W | $175 |
| Phenom II X4 905e | 2.5GHz | 2MB | 6MB | 65W | $165 |
| Callisto (X2) | | | | | |
| Phenom II X2 565 BE | 3.4GHz | 1MB | 6MB | 80W | $112 |
| Phenom II X2 560 BE | 3.3GHz | 1MB | 6MB | 80W | $102 |
| Phenom II X2 555 BE | 3.2GHz | 1MB | 6MB | 80W | $90 |
| Propus (X4) | | | | | |
| Athlon II X4 645 | 3.1GHz | 2MB | n/a | 95W | $112 |
| Athlon II X4 640 | 3.0GHz | 2MB | n/a | 95W | $99.99 |
| Athlon II X4 615e | 2.5GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W |
$143 |
| Athlon II X4 610e | 2.4GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W |
$133 |
| Athlon II X4 605e | 2.3GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W |
$122 |
| Rana (X3) | | | | | |
| Athlon II X3 455 | 3.2GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 95W | $87 |
| Athlon II X3 450 | 3.2GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 95W | $76 |
| Athlon II X3 445 | 3.1GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 95W | $76 |
| Athlon II X3 435 | 2.9GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 95W | $76 |
| Athlon II X3 420e | 2.6GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 45W | $102 |
| Athlon II X3 415e | 2.5GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 45W | $102 |
| Athlon II X3 405e | 2.3GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 45W | $102 |
| Athlon II X3 400e | 2.2GHz | 1.5MB | n/a | 45W | $97 |
| Regor (X2) | | | | | |
| Athlon II X2 265 | 3.3GHz | 2MB | n/a | 65W | $69 |
| Athlon II X2 260 | 3.2GHz | 2MB | n/a | 65W | $66 |
| Athlon II X2 255 | 3.1 | 2MB | n/a | 65W | $66 |
| Athlon II X2 250 | 3.0GHz | 2MB | n/a | 65W | $66 |
| Athlon II X2 245 | 2.9GHz | 2MB | n/a | 65W | $66 |
| Athlon II X2 250e | 3.0GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W | $77 |
| Athlon II X2 245e | 2.9GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W | $77 |
| Athlon II X2 240e | 2.8GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W | $69 |
| Athlon II X2 235e | 2.7GHz | 2MB | n/a | 45W | $69 |
There will be additional SKUs hitting the market early next year but for obvious reasons we cannot comment any further on those.
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