Introduction

For several years now, the demand for quick, powerful, quad core processors has been the craze throughout the computer industry. This has left the dual core platform along the wayside as the market has become dominated by the more expensive and significantly more powerful quad cores. The market is seeing a change now, however, with the growing significance of home theatre PCs that don’t necessarily require the more expensive and more powerful quad core processors. We have also seen an increase in the need for more affordable processors during these tough economic times. AMD has recognized this need and seems to have found the answer.

The all new AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition processor is a dual core processor built on the AM3 Phenom architecture, but with the lower cost of a dual core processor. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition processor was designed to bridge the gap between increased performance and lower cost by utilizing advanced technologies and reverse compatibility, fused with the unlocked multipliers for additional performance enhancements. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE processor, unlike the other X2 dual cores currently offered from AMD, benefits from being built on the Dragon platform as a Phenom II AM3 die, allowing for the X2 to be utilized with DDR3 RAM on AM3 boards or be utilized on older motherboards featuring reverse compatibility. 

AMD has been at the forefront throughout the years with filling the voids in the market for various price points that have developed a demand in the user market. With the current economic times and the ever growing popularity of the HTPC, AMD has yet again answered the call of filling that spot in the processor market with a CPU that features newer die technologies, DDR3 or DDR2 capabilities depending on the motherboard, and cost efficient pricing as a dual core CPU. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE sits poised to be a formidable processor with much potential in many different system applications.