AMD Athlon II X4 640 processor: features and reviews

The processor, which combines a sufficient level of performance and an excellent degree of energy efficiency, is nothing more than the AMD Athlon II X4 640. The characteristics of this processor, even at the current moment, allow you to run any existing software. And his value is very modest. All this in total makes the hero of this review an excellent basis for mid-level computers.

Niche semiconductor chip. Possible variants of a complete set

At the time of sale of this processor in 2009, the PC system blocks were divided as follows:

• Office computers with a single-core processor. от АМД и Celeron от «Интел» . This segment of the market was occupied by the Septron chips from AMD and Celeron from Intel . They had very modest parameters, low clock speeds and a minimum cache size. As a result, they had a very low performance, but it was enough to solve office tasks. In addition to this, the cost in this case was also very low.

• Computers of the middle class were compulsorily based on a 2-core processor. Also in this case the frequencies increased, the cache increased and the technical parameters of the semiconductor solution were much better. This led to an increase in the cost of a computer. But the list of tasks solved on such a PC increased significantly.

• Well, the most productive systems were based on 4-core CPUs. данной нише. To this segment of the computer market also belonged AMD Athlon II X4 640. Its characteristics entirely correspond to this niche. This processor device at that time could solve any of the complexity of the task. And even now, the presence of such a chip in the computer allows you to still run most of the existing software.

Since the appearance of this CPU in the shops, a lot of time has passed by computer standards. Therefore, he moved from the segment of premium solutions into the niche of mid-level processors. There were two possible options for bundling this semiconductor product. и включал ЦПУ, гарантийный талон, наклейку с наименованием модели процессора для лицевой панели и руководство по монтажу. One of them was called TRAY and included a CPU, a warranty card, a label with the name of a processor model for the front panel and a mounting manual. The second one had the designation of VOC and included, in addition to all the above, another cooler and thermal paste.

Supported socket types

The characteristics of the AMD Athlon II X4 640 processor indicate that it should be installed in the AM3 socket. This is the main type of socket for this chip. But it can also be installed in AM2 + and AM3 +. It is the last processor socket for today still continues to be relevant among AMD's computer platforms. It is optimal to collect the system unit with this processor device on its basis. In this case, the highest level of performance and current technical specifications will be obtained. All this will fully allow us to reveal the potential of this semiconductor crystal.

Production technology. Frequency, heat and temperature

The technological process for the production of a silicon crystal in this case was a directive (silicon on a dielectric). The norm of 45 nm was in accordance with the specifications of AMD Athlon II X4 640. The characteristics of the CPU pointed to the working frequency of 3 GHz and it was not dynamically regulated. 95 Вт. The thermal package of this product was 95 W. ⁰ С. На практике же это значение редко выходило за границы 45-57 ⁰ С. The maximum temperature in this case was declared at the level of 71 ⁰ C. In practice, this value rarely exceeded the limits of 45-57 ^° C.

Cache and RAM

Only the presence of 2 levels of cache boasts AMD Athlon II X4 640. Processor because of this, greatly loses productivity, but wins in energy efficiency. The total volume of volatile memory at the first level is 512 KB, and on the second - 2 MB. так и с наиболее распространенной на текущий момент DDR3. The RAM controller is dual-channel and can work with both DDR2 and with the most popular DDR3 at the moment . For the first case, the recommended frequency is 1066 MHz, and for the second - 1333 MHz.

Architectural features

, и он принадлежит к семейству 4-ядерных процессоров или, как их еще называют на языке профессионалов - QUADCORE. The code name for this semiconductor solution is Propus , and it belongs to the family of 4-core processors or, as they are also called in the language of professionals - QUADCORE. The AMD Athlon II X4 640 is based on the K10 architecture and can even process 64-bit code.

Overclocking

Only by the frequency of the system bus it was possible to increase the performance of the AMD Athlon II X4 640. Overclocking should be performed on the system unit, which is equipped with an improved, reliable and high-quality cooling system, an advanced motherboard and a power unit with increased power. Also, the PC case must have improved airspace circulation. In other respects, the overclocking algorithm is standard for this class of devices. The frequencies of all computer components are reduced as much as possible, and the frequency of the system bus is increased discretely by one nearest value. Then we check the stability of the computer. If everything is in order, then we continue to increase the bus frequency. Also we pay attention to the frequencies of the other components of the computer, which should not exceed the acceptable limits. As soon as we reach the limit at which the PC ceases to work stably, we begin to increase the voltage on the processor. Then - the frequency. The maximum possible values of this parameter for such a chip are 3.5-3.7 GHz.

The price of the CPU. Results in practice. Owner feedback

At the start of sales, the AMD Athlon II X4 640 processor was priced by the manufacturer at $ 122. For a chip with such technical specifications it was a great price. его в новом состоянии можно приобрести за 42 доллара, или 2700-2750 рублей. Now it can be purchased in a new condition for 42 dollars, or 2700-2750 rubles. If you already buy a semiconductor product that is in use, the price will decrease and amount to $ 35, or 2100-2250 rubles. The most important parameter of this CPU is that it has 4 cores at the physical level. It is for this reason that on the PC, which is based on such a processor and a powerful discrete graphics subsystem, all the most recent gaming applications will go. Even if not at the maximum settings, but they will necessarily be launched. And it is on this and accentuate the owners of such computers. The drawback of this chip is only one - this is the absence of the third level of the cache. This design feature of the processor significantly reduces its performance. But, on the other hand, it allows to reduce the thermal package of the product and increase its energy efficiency due to this.

Results

The successful processor product for 2009 and the current time is the AMD Athlon II X4 640. The characteristics of this chip (to be exact, the 4 real computing modules) allow this CPU to pass today a very common check for the availability of the necessary hardware resources for the execution of the program code . Well, the ability to overclock the frequency of the system bus allows you to get a fairly large increase in performance. To the undeniable minuses of this product, as it was mentioned earlier, it is possible to attribute only the absence of cache memory of the 3rd level. But this engineering solution significantly improved the energy efficiency of the CPU, which significantly compensates for this disadvantage.