AMD Phenom II X4 970 is available for pre-order

For well over a year Phenom II X4 965 was the highest clocked microprocessor manufactured by AMD. Launched in August 2009, Phenom II X4 965 has 4 cores operating at 3.4 GHz, which is at least 200 Mhz higher than the next fastest clocked AMD CPU. In the next two weeks AMD is going to introduce new model that will beat the 965 by 100 MHz. The new processor is a quad-core Phenom II 970.

For the first time the part number of the Phenom II X4 970 CPU appeared in the middle of last year in a list of unannounced AMD part numbers. One month ago X-bit labs published more details on the CPU, as well as release date and estimated price. Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition is based on the same Deneb core as all other quad-core Phenom IIs currently in production. The processor will be manufactured on 45nm technology, and incorporate the same features as the Phenom II 965 - native quad-core design, integrated DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, 512 KB L2 cache per each core, and large 6 MB level 3 cache. Core frequency of the 970 model is set to 3.5 GHz, but it can be easily clocked higher as the CPU doesn't have clock multiplier locked. The Phenom II X4 970 will have the same instruction set extensions and technologies as other Deneb CPUs: 64-bit, SSE3, and Virtualization. The model 970 will not support Turbo Core technology. OEM part number of the new microprocessor is HDZ970FBK4DGM, and box part number is HDZ970FBGMBOX. The CPU should be compatible with socket AM2+ and socket AM3 motherboards, although at this time there are no motherboards that officially support this model. According to X-bit labs the processor will be launched on September 21 priced at around $200. At present, tray and box versions of this model are listed for pre-order in a few US and UK online stores. Current pre-order prices range from $200 to $235 for boxed processors, which is close to $200 price estimate. Pre-order prices for tray Phenom II X4 970 CPUs are about $10 more expensive.