AMD Athlon II X2 255 Dual Core 3.1GHz Processor Review

[Apoptosis]

AMD Athlon II X2 255 Dual Core 3.1GHz Processor Review

The AMD Athlon II X2 255 is the fastest dual-core processor in the Athlon II series with its overall clock frequency of 3.1GHz. With a street price of just $74.99 it will be interesting to see how this processor does in the benchmarks against other AMD and Intel processors. Read on to see how it performs in the benchmarks and to see how it handles being overclocked on our AMD 785G test system.

The AMD Athlon II X2 255 had a more than solid performance when putting through the paces today. It may not have performed as well as the Quad Core processors did, but keep in mind it is a dual core processor. When I ran the benchmarks on 1 core of each processor I was astonished to see the performance. The AMD Athlon II X2 255 was at or near the top of the list in those benchmarks.

Article Title: AMD Athlon II X2 255 Dual Core 3.1GHz Processor Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1200/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $74.99 shipped at Newegg

[Gomeler]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

[GI-JOE]

Would it be possible to throw some old Core 2 Duos in there? AMD doesn't compete against itself.

[skier]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

my board has a feature for unlocking cores, not sure how many do, but i assume a decent amount must

the difference between it and the phenom II line is pretty much just cache, though theres only 2 phenom duals at 3.0/3.1 maybe they just can't guarantee safe operation up past 3.2 so i would imagine they'll stay where they're at with a nice LOW LOW pricetag lol

@GI Joe: its hard to compare AMD vs intel since they are entirely different systems so there would be almost no way for the test results to be accurate comparisons anyway

[GI-JOE]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

my board has a feature for unlocking cores, not sure how many do, but i assume a decent amount must

the difference between it and the phenom II line is pretty much just cache, though theres only 2 phenom duals at 3.0/3.1 maybe they just can't guarantee safe operation up past 3.2 so i would imagine they'll stay where they're at with a nice LOW LOW pricetag lol

@GI Joe: its hard to compare AMD vs intel since they are entirely different systems so there would be almost no way for the test results to be accurate comparisons anyway

I know that, but numerous other review sites (including LR) usually include processors from both companies. It doesn't have to be the exact same system, just something for a "general" idea on how the new processor stacks up to older processors.

[Gomeler]

Like an E8400. I think everyone and their brother, mother, and mother's brother had one of those.

[skier]

Like an E8400. I think everyone and their brother, mother, and mother's brother had one of those.

except for me, most expensive i could go was a 7200 for a whiile i do know a bunch of people that have them online tho, just no one irl

[trucz]

this may be a dumb question but if the multiplier is locked, how'd you decrease the multiplier to 14? is only increase locked?

[Apoptosis]

this may be a dumb question but if the multiplier is locked, how'd you decrease the multiplier to 14? is only increase locked?

yeah you can always go down, just not up.

[XstollieX]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

No I have not tried to unlock it yet, I had to steal that hard drive for something else. I will try and set it up this weekend and see what I can do and let ya know.

[geokilla]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

No I have not tried to unlock it yet, I had to steal that hard drive for something else. I will try and set it up this weekend and see what I can do and let ya know.

Didn't you just review a AMD Athlon II X4 635? How many AMD processors do you have?! Wanna send me one?! =D

So any luck with overclocking with ACC enabled for both the dual core and quad core? Also if you do spend more time overclocking, mind updating the article?

[Apoptosis]

Didn't you just review a AMD Athlon II X4 635? How many AMD processors do you have?! Wanna send me one?! =D

So any luck with overclocking with ACC enabled for both the dual core and quad core? Also if you do spend more time overclocking, mind updating the article?

Sorry, we don't send out review samples as they are just that samples with no warranties or value. Plus we need to keep them for use in future articles.

[geokilla]

Didn't you just review a AMD Athlon II X4 635? How many AMD processors do you have?! Wanna send me one?! =D

So any luck with overclocking with ACC enabled for both the dual core and quad core? Also if you do spend more time overclocking, mind updating the article?

Sorry, we don't send out review samples as they are just that samples with no warranties or value. Plus we need to keep them for use in future articles.

I was just joking... guess it's hard to joke on a Internet screen. I know review samples don't get sent out.

[XstollieX]

So any luck with overclocking with ACC enabled for both the dual core and quad core? Also if you do spend more time overclocking, mind updating the article?

I played with the ACC a bit and it didn't go real well. It seemed to limit my frequency a bit more than leaving it disabled. If I get a chance I will play with it more in the next week.

Didn't you just review a AMD Athlon II X4 635? How many AMD processors do you have?! Wanna send me one?! =D

Like Nate said I have to hang on to them for various reasons, besides I don't think it will fit in the socket 775 board that's in your sig real well

[XstollieX]

You try unlocking the chip? I think some of these chips have 4 functional cores. Looks like a decent cheap chip, surprised though that AMD hasn't released a 3.6GHz dual-core.. would be a nice chip at $150 or so.

edit: maybe not $150, perhaps around $125. Compete with the Core i5 670 on price and performance.. I should be calling the shots at AMD

Just tried unlocking it with no luck it seems this chip won't unlock

[trucz]

didn't someone say amd began disconnecting the 3rd and 4th core to prevent unlocking cores.

[XstollieX]

didn't someone say amd began disconnecting the 3rd and 4th core to prevent unlocking cores.

I don't believe that to be true. Last night while I was searching for anyone having luck unlocking cores on the X2 255 I found that several people have been able to unlock 2 additional cores on the new Phenom II X2 555.

[geokilla]

didn't someone say amd began disconnecting the 3rd and 4th core to prevent unlocking cores.

I don't believe that to be true. Last night while I was searching for anyone having luck unlocking cores on the X2 255 I found that several people have been able to unlock 2 additional cores on the new Phenom II X2 555.

I think some people have been able to unlock their Athlon II X2 too. Don't quote me on that though...