The AMD Phenom II X4 840 processor device was introduced in 2011 as part of the AMD AMD3 computer platform. This chip had advanced technical specifications and made it possible to solve absolutely any actual tasks in terms of level and degree of complexity. It is precisely such a CPU for desktop systems that will be discussed in the framework of this short review.
Appointment
By the standards of 2011, this microprocessor model had advanced technical specifications and, as noted earlier, made it possible to solve problems of any complexity. But such a semiconductor chip is most optimally used only when processing the most resource-intensive software code. The latter includes the latest toys, graphic editors, coding, application development and transcoding of multimedia content. These are the main cases in which it is recommended to use such a chip.
Characteristics
The characteristics of the AMD Phenom II X4 840 indicate that this microprocessor occupies an intermediate position between the flagships of the AM3 socket and mid-range solutions. With the first he is related by a high clock frequency of 3.2 GHz. And with the second, the lack of a “fast” memory of the third level combines. At the same time, the total size of the first level of the cache is 256 kb, and the second is capable of accommodating 2 MB of data and program instructions.
The microprocessor includes four computing units that process information in four logical streams.
The thermal package of this chip is 95W, and its silicon base is manufactured using AMD's proprietary SOI technology with 45nm tolerance standards. The area of the final crystal is 169 mm 2 . The CPU includes about 300 million different transistor elements. The supply voltage of this model of the CPU should be in the range from 1.05 to 1.4V.
The chip multiplier is locked at 16x, and the recommended system bus frequency is 200MHz.
Reviews Relevance
The advantages of this chip include:
- Performance.
- Reliability.
- Cost.
- The possibility of overclocking due to a significant increase in the bus clock frequency.
The disadvantages of the owners include:
- The obsolete silicon base manufacturing process.
- The cache includes only two shared memory levels.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the AM3 platform is outdated and is not relevant. Therefore, it is not practical to assemble new PCs based on it.
Conclusion
A very balanced solution from the point of view of technical specifications at the time of the start of sales was AMD Phenom II X4 840. This chip had a fairly high speed and allowed to run any software. At the same time, the cost was quite affordable. Its only significant drawback is the lack of a large third level integrated cache. But this minus is offset by a significantly increased clock speed.