AMD Athlon II X4 640
Introduction
We’ve recently seen a lot of big things from AMD, from their 890GX chipset, with some of the most powerful integrated graphics available, to the beast 890FX chipset for uncompromised performance and overclockability. On the processor front, we’ve seen the release of Thuban, the desktop iteration of Istanbul, AMD’s hex-core behemoth. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the top end of AMD’s lineup, however, this does not mean that AMD has forgotten about everyone else.
Today AMD is releasing many CPUs geared toward the lower end of their lineup, namely Athlon II CPUs with C3 revision silicon, which allows generally for higher overclocks on air, and allows AMD to clock the chips up and keep them within thermal design specification.
With six new Athlon II chips, AMD is keeping relentless in their attack on mid to lower end Intel lineup. For review, we’ve got the Athlon II X4 640. By specs, it’s awfully familiar. It’s essentially an Athlon II X4 635, just clocked up 100MHz. As you’ll soon see during our overclocking sessions, these Athlon II chips have some serious overhead potential, so let’s dive right in and get this chip juiced up.
