VR-Zone

As we expected, AMD is now releasing a new revision of the Phenom II X4 965, C3. The most notable feature is reduced power consumption, dropping from a seary 140W to 125W. In reality, the previous 965 was right on the boundary of 125W anyway, so the actual drop in load power is reported to be more to the tune of 10W. A thermal improvement is also expected to yield a greater overclocking headroom, though that needs to, and will be, tested soon.

In addition, there are a few other tweaks, such as official support for four DDR3 modules at 1333 MHz, and C1E is finally supported in hardware. AMD have struggled with power management, especially the original Phenom series, with slower software power switching costing big chunks of performance. Switching power states through hardware will have "virtually no impact" on performance.

If you are in the market for a Phenom II X4 965, it remains a black edition unlocked CPU, and priced at $195. The part number for the 125W revision is HDZ965FBK4DGM, the 140W version was HDZ965FBK4DGI. (Note the last letters) At this price, the Core i5 750 remains a better deal for a new build. However, if you already have a AM2+/AM3 motherboard, it might be worth an upgrade.

The new revision is also expected to bring a 95W Phenom II X4 955 (though it is unknown if it will remain a BE), down from 125W. A 3.6 GHz Phenom II X4 975 is also rumoured as the new AMD flagship.

Reference: Techreport