AMD Athlon II X4 620 & 630: The First $99 Quad Core CPU
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 16, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Performance
To measure performance under Photoshop CS4 we turn to the Retouch Artists’ Speed Test. The test does basic photo editing; there are a couple of color space conversions, many layer creations, color curve adjustment, image and canvas size adjustment, unsharp mask, and finally a gaussian blur performed on the entire image.
The whole process is timed and thanks to the use of Intel's X25-M SSD as our test bed hard drive, performance is far more predictable than back when we used to test on mechanical disks.
Time is reported in seconds and the lower numbers mean better performance. The test is multithreaded and can hit all four cores in a quad-core machine.
Photoshop performance is actually very good on these chips, the extra cores help make them faster than even a Phenom II X3 720. For $99 you're getting better Photoshop performance than even more expensive dual core processors.
The Pentium E6300 isn't competitive here, despite being Intel's closest priced processor. The Q8200 is faster than both of these options, but it's also more expensive. Again, AMD priced the 620 on point.
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blyndy - Friday, September 18, 2009 - link
I don't know if they intentionally cripple fully functioning denebs. I imagined that amd would rather sell a Phx4 for ~$200 than an A2x4 for ~$100, but I might have read somewhere that both intel and amd do intentionally cripple fully functioning chips.strikeback03 - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
That statement makes sense for harvested Denebs, but doesn't Propus not have any L3 at all, so it can't be turned into a PhenomII?blyndy - Friday, September 18, 2009 - link
Yes that's why I thought the quote didn't make sense -- If propus is exclusively A2x2 then the highest clocking propus' will still be A2x2's, therefore A2x2 overclocking wouldn't suffer.MrPIppy - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
How is the motherboard compatibility situation looking? Will boards need a BIOS update, or just work out of the box right now?Also, does it support AMD virtualization instructions?
Last, any idea about compatibility with ECC RAM? The BIOS often plays a role in this too, but just wanted to make sure AMD didn't remove ECC support from the IMC or something similar
TA152H - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
This is a GREAT product from AMD.Make it smaller, make it cheaper, and put it with a platform much better than one Intel can have.
AMD can not make a processor worth a damn. Let's face it, they suck. If they try to compete head on with Intel, they lose, period.
By making a quad core that is more than fast enough for most people, while at the same time reducing the size so they can make it cheaper, they created something in a segment where Intel just isn't.
Couple this with a 790GX, or the 785, and you've got a great platform for a lot of people. If you need the best, or near it, the Bloomfield can't be touched. Why even try? Most people don't need it.
Finally, AMD seems to get it.
khaakon - Thursday, September 17, 2009 - link
I kinda agree with you here. But I cannot understand your need to paint the world in only black and white.khaakon - Thursday, September 17, 2009 - link
* edit;"your need" meaning TA152H
Eeqmcsq - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
"Finally, AMD seems to get it."Yes, but will they make money out of it? Only time will tell.
Chlorus - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
Where's that dipshit snakeoil to complain about nonexistent bias?Eeqmcsq - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
He's in disguise under a new screen name. See if you can spot him in the comments so far.