The AMD Athlon II X4 635 processor solution was introduced in January 2011 and was positioned by the company as a middle-class product with a good margin of performance and a fairly affordable price. It is about its capabilities, hardware specifications and other important nuances associated with this chip that will be discussed later.
Positioning
In 2011, AMD's main processor socket was Socket AM3 . It was for installation in it that the hero of this review was intended. The microprocessors of this socket were divided as follows:
Office personal computers were based on Septron series CPUs. Only 1 computing core, minimal cache size and very low frequencies were perfect for solving just such, but something more was impossible in this case. Also, the cost in this case was very low, and at that moment made such computing systems very affordable.
Base gaming systems were based on the chips of the Athlon II X2 & Athlon II X3 series . The number of computing units in this case was increased to 2 or 3, respectively. The cache memory also increased, there were higher values of the clock frequency. As a result, such semiconductor solutions provided a significantly higher level of speed and made it possible to solve almost any problem. It should be noted that some toys on similar software were launched with far from maximum settings.
The advanced gaming systems were necessarily based on CPUs from the Athlon II X4 family . The number of cores in this case increased to 4, the clock frequencies were even larger, the cache also increased significantly. All this allowed the owners of such PCs to solve any problems, not paying attention to the software requirements for hardware. It was to this class of semiconductor solutions that the central processor belonged, which will be considered in this material.
Premium system units were assembled on the basis of microprocessor solutions of the Phenom II family . The key difference from all previous AMD products in this case was the organization of the cache. If all the previous chips had only 2 levels of such fast memory, then in this case the third level appeared. It was his presence that provided an impressive increase in speed. Also, the number within this family of processors could reach 6, and the clock frequencies of silicon solutions were significantly increased.
Types of equipment and what is included in them
The AMD Athlon II X4 635 processor solution could be delivered in two possible configurations. The first of these was designated as Trail and included the following:
The chip itself is in hard plastic packaging.
Warranty card.
Quick installation and use guide.
Brand sticker with the name of the CPU family.
This configuration was aimed at very large assemblers of system units, which used specialized cooling systems as part of their PCs. The second configuration option for such a microprocessor was called BOX. In addition to everything previously listed, it was supplemented by the following:
AMD cooler company.
Thermal grease.
In this design, this CPU was aimed at the niche of small collectors who could not afford a special, more expensive cooling system. As experience has shown, even the capabilities of a regular cooler were enough for the normal and stable operation of such a semiconductor solution.
Socket Types
As noted earlier, the main processor socket for this chip was Socket AM3. Actually, this CPU was specifically developed for it. But, as you know, physically compatible with this computing platform were AM2, AM2 + and AM3 +. The RAM controller integrated into the AMD Athlon II X4 635 was focused on working with memory modules of the DDR3 standard . And due to the fact that AM2 could work only with DDR2, the semiconductor product considered in this material could even be installed in such a processor socket, but it could not work normally in combination with it due to incompatibility of RAM from the motherboard and the controller integrated in the CPU. The AM2 + platform was hybrid and allowed to install both DDR2 and DDR3. If the motherboard was with the latest type of RAM, then the hero of this review could function successfully in it. But in boards with AM3 + this microprocessor can be installed. He will successfully work as part of such a system for the reason that within its framework only DDR3 brackets are only used . Therefore, this chip can be installed in one of AMD's 3-processor sockets and work successfully as part of such a PC:
Technological process. Frequency, thermal aspects and temperature conditions
According to technological standards, which corresponded to 45 nm, AMD Athlon II X4 635 was manufactured. The processor had an area of 169 mm 2 . This chip clocked at 2.9 GHz. The maximum temperature for him was fixed at 71 degrees . In practice, this parameter, as a rule, was in the range from 50 to 62 degrees . The power of this semiconductor solution was 95 watts.
Cache. RAM subsystem
As previously noted, AMD Athlon ™ II X4 635 had only 2 levels of fast memory. The total volume of the first level was 512 KB, which were physically divided into 4 equal parts of 128 KB. Each of these 128 Kb was tied to a specific core and could only store information processed only by this computing module. Also, these 128 KB were divided into 2 more equal parts of 64 KB. The first 64 Kb only stored instructions of the chip, and the second - data. The total cache size on the second level was already 2 MB. They were also divided into 4 equal parts of 512 KB, assigned to a specific core. In this case, there was no strict separation of the storage of instructions or data, and the address space was common. The RAM controller was integrated into the semiconductor chip of the processor device, and it was dual-channel. The optimal type of RAM for it is DDR3-1333.
CPU architecture
A review of the AMD Athlon II X4 635 processor indicated that its computing modules were based on the Propus architecture . The number of cores in this case was 4, and the number of cache levels was limited to two. These are the maximum capabilities of this silicon crystal, and somehow it was not possible to improve its capabilities by unlocking additional elements.
Acceleration of this silicon product
The AMD Athlon II X4 635 multiplier is fixed at a value of 14.5. Overclocking it, as a result, is possible only by the frequency of the system bus, the nominal value of which in this case is 200 MHz. An additional performance gain in this case can also be obtained by increasing the voltage on the processor core. The procedure for overclocking such CPUs is as follows:
We lower the frequencies of all PC components in the BIOS or in specialized application software.
Then gradually increase the frequency of the system board bus. After each such increment, we check the frequencies of the PC components: they should not exceed those values that were before overclocking. If somewhere it went beyond permissible limits, then we lower it. We reboot the PC and check the stability of the work.
As soon as we reach the maximum frequency value, and the PC stops working stably at the same time, we begin to increase the voltage. In parallel, we are trying to increase the frequency of the microprocessor.
As soon as the combination of increasing frequency and voltage ceases to produce results, and the system does not start stably already, we restore the previous values of frequency and voltage. The CPU overclocking limit has been reached.
As experience shows, with regular 1.1 V and 2900 MHz, this processor can be overclocked to 1.425 V and 3828 MHz. In percentage terms, this allows you to get 32% in speed.
The cost of a 4-core chip. Opportunities for today. The opinion of the owners of the PC based on it. Reviews
At the start of sales, this microprocessor was priced at $ 110. Now, these chips can be purchased for 2000-2500 rubles on the Internet at various international trading floors. And in a completely new condition. Only on the positive side does this CPU characterize reviews. AMD Athlon II X4 635 is still a relevant product and allows you to launch most of the toys for now. Including modern and most demanding. The presence of real 4 computing modules for this chip allows passing restrictions, which in some of them are implemented at the level of program code. Well, excellent overclocking potential allows this CPU to even overtake more modern processor products.
Summary
One of the best and most affordable chips in 2011 in the segment of mid-range solutions was the hero of this review. And although the AMD Athlon II X4 635 was released by the standards of the computer world a long time ago, it is still relevant, and its performance level is acceptable.