AMD Phenom 2 X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz Socket AM3

Overview

The AMD Phenom 2 X2 550 Black Edition operates at 3.10GHz. The X2 550 also features the same integrated 128-bit wide memory controller supporting either DDR2 or DDR3 memory depending on the socket. Furthermore, the Phenom II X2 550 is based on the same 45nm process with an approximate die size of 258 mm2 featuring roughly 758 million transistors. This processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of just 80 watts when working at between 0.850-1.425v.

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 9 expert reviews

Excellent:

5
Good:

2
Average:

1
Bad:

1

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Last revision on April 8, 2013

Reviewers Liked

Unlocked multiplier
Good performance
AM3 support
Good memory performance
Good overclocker
Excellent price/performance ratio
AM3/AM2 compatibility
DDR3 support
Efficient 45nm process

Reviewers Didn't Like

Power consumption is still high compared to Intel
Quad-core CPUs offer better performance for video editing and other multithreaded apps

Expert reviews and ratings

You can now buy PC processors with as many as six cores and support for up to 12 software threads in parallel. With that in mind, why would anyone want the dual-core AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition?Actually, the theory behind this chip makes...

By TechRadar on September 07, 2010

AMD's Range The Phenom II family was unveiled in January 2009 with the X4 900 series. In June of the same year, the manufacturer released the dual-core version, beginning with the X2 500 series.The Phenom X2 500 CPUs are based on the K10...

By DigitalVersus on December 17, 2009

100

Verdict: This fast, dual-core, bargain processor provides plenty of performance for most tasks. This is the first Phenom-branded processor to have only two processing cores, with previous models being triple- or quad-core designs. Other than that,...

By Expert Reviews on July 17, 2009

While the idea of a dual core these days may be considered to be somewhat passé, the new AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition brings a lot of surprises that may yet turn the heads of consumers. First of all, at $115, its relatively cheap, and a good...

By Club Overclocker on July 06, 2009

The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition is what the should have been. In fact, theres very little reason to buy an old K8, or even K10 cored CPU now the and Phenom II X2 550 are available (unless, that is, you have a specific need for an ultra low power...

By Bit-tech.net on July 02, 2009

They just keep on coming dont they! Today we have the newest member of the Phenom II family, the X2, the dual core variant of the Phenom II X4 9xx series CPUs. What we have with us today is the flagship model, X2 550, which is a descendant of the...

By TechTree on June 22, 2009

Its been a while since AMD had a true dual core competitor to Intels Core 2 Duo family, but I think its safe to say that day has come. Throughout our tests, the AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE was able to keep up and even outpace our Intel E7400. Memory...

By Benchmark Reviews on June 04, 2009

Budget-conscious gamers or general PC users who don’t edit video or use Adobe apps will find the Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition a fine, speedy performer for the price....

By Computer Shopper on June 01, 2009

Still, there is very little difference between the Pentium G6950/H55 and Phenom II X2 550/785G configurations that we used for this article, and both will cost you less than $200 US. Either option is powerful enough for typical day to day tasks, while...

By Legion Hardware on January 24, 2010

As demonstrated in PCWizKids video reviews the benchmarks for the Athlon II X2 250 shows that a budget CPU for under $80 US can give amazing performance. The gaming benchmarks alone demonstrate the Athlon II was able to beat the other dual core CPUs...

By PCWizKid's Tech Talk on August 31, 2009

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