Review-Phenom II X4 980 Processor: AMD’s Fastest Quad Core CPU is Here!

Conclusions

Obviously, under default configuration, the Phenom II X4 980 BE outperforms the X4 975 BE in all of our tests. It is currently the fastest quad core offering. Also, since it’s a Black Edition processor, you can easily overclock the Phenom II X4 980 BE simply by increasing its multiplier value. In some cases, higher frequency matters more than the amount of cores.
Our overclocking attempt was carried out without modifying the CPU voltage parameter (left at “auto”), and yet the Phenom II X4 980 BE still managed to give us a couple hundred megahertz of headroom. However, it’s worth noting that the X4 975 can easily achieve the same result despite its lower default clockspeed.
Compared to the Phenom X6 1055T, Phenom II X4 980 BE should perform better in most applications, at least those which cannot run faster on processors with more than four cores. But if you use multi-threaded programs a lot, the extra two cores on the X6 could earn you substantial performance improvement.
So, is the Phenom II X4 980 BE worth your money? If you intend to run your processor at default clockspeed only, then this is the fastest quad-core processor that you can get from AMD. However, once you push it further, your luck depends on the overclockability of that particular processor currently at hand, and it tends to vary between each individual unit of the same type. In this regard, even the older 975BE can offer you similar overclocking potential. After all, that’s what all “BE” processors are meant for: overclocking.