Seems like they are aping Intels approach of maxing out on onboard cache- though the new chip does look interesting. Its a pity that AMD got left so far behind Intel I've very fond memories of the good old K6-2 500- I must have build a few hundred systems with it. I'd really like to see this benchmarked against Intel processors at a similar price point and see where we're at, at the moment....... The fact that they have Alienware onboard is a good selling point........

@ Shane

Here is your benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-ii-940,2114.html

Like all AMDs before it these CPUs are targeted at price/performance enthusiasts, sure if you want to spend an extra $2k you can get Intel's i7 extreme platform that almost doubles AMDs Phenom II but I'm completely happy with my $1200 budget beast.

- here comes the fanboi in me...

It seems Toms Hardware review may be a bit off due to the fact the Intel platform was using DDR3 and the AMD AM3 socket (support of DDR3) hasn't been released yet... It would have been nice to see a Radeon 4870x2 instead of the GX250, to play nice with the AMD 7series chipset.

However I liked the review because of the closing statement by Toms Hardware...

"As a result of its exceptional energy efficiency advances and an affordable price/performance ratio, AMD Phenom II X4 deserves our seldom-granted Recommended Buy award."

Like a lot of people I suspect I have been looking at the i7 platrorm with a measure of disbelief at the pricing. Ok the i7 920 chip itself is competitive on price but the board prices are outrageous particularly considering that the chip is now doing the vast majority of the work.

It was therefore a pleasure to see the Phenom II 940 BE return competitive benchmarks. I like many had heard that the OC potential of these chips was something special but put this down to hype. I am glad to say my disbelief was unfounded and that the Phenom II genuinely has the i7 in its sights when things are cranked up.

I know that you are in reality looking at Q9770 equivalent peformance but from a chip who's design was written off 12 months ago this is very good news.

With AMD's DDR3 platform to come Intel are once again going to be looking over their shoulders at AMD and this cannot be a bad thing. I have in my time used AMD builds and was more than happy with them. It would seem that AMD are now truly back in business.