After long denying any Phenom-based Athlons, then releasing the 6500 silently, now AMD introduces new models of the 7000 series. The naming is adding to some confusion for the customers, because there is no distinction between Phenom-based CPUs, codename "Kuma" and the old "Brisbane" core of the original Athlon, now available as 4450e, 4850e, and 5050e. Why they did not choose to use "Athlon II" as they did with the new Phenoms is beyond our understanding.



The CPU is, in fact, a Phenom with only two cores. No surprises here, 2x 64kB instruction and data 1st level cache, 2x 512kB 2nd level cache and addtional 2MB shared 3rd level cache. The disappointing news is that it has a TDP of 95W. While AMD is positioning this CPU against the E5200, with a TDP of 65W. The TDP difference is quite substantial, even when AMD comes close in performance.


Testbed:

Motherboard:
MSI DKA790GX (provided by MSI, special thx for fast sending)
AMD 790GX/SB750

CPU:
AMD Athlon X2 3800+ EE
AMD Athlon X2 4850e (provided by AMD)
AMD Athlon X2 7750 (provided by AMD)
Intel E7200 (provided by K&M Elektronik)


CPU-Cooler:
Scythe Andy Samurai Master (provided by Scythe-Europe)

Memory:
Kingston 2GB Kit PC2-9600U KHX1200D2K2/2G (provided by Kingston)
CL4-4-4-12 CR2T at 1.80V

Graphics Card:
Jetway Radeon HD3870 (provided by mec-electronics)

Power supply:
Seasonic S12II 500W

Hard disk:
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (provided by Ditech)

Case fans:
SilenX iXtrema Pro 14dB(A) (provided by PC-Cooling.at)
Scythe DFS122512LS

Case:
Cooler Master Stacker 831 Lite (provided by Cooler Master)