As you can see from the results of the numerous benchmarks for the most part at similar clock speeds the AMD X4 620 is toe to toe  with its more expensive stable mate. I believe this is almost certainly down to the fact that due to the higher bus speed required to achieve 3.25Ghz the whole of the rest of the system is running faster so the extra bandwidth that produces makes up for the lack of the extra cache.

This isn’t always the case though as a few tests would seem to prove otherwise, maybe it’s just the type of work being done that’s the important factor. One thing is certain though considering the X4 620’s are around half the price of the 955 then I think it’s a fantastic chip.

If you can’t quite stretch to the X4 Phenom range of CPU’s then you should DEFINATELY get one of these. Don’t buy a dual or triple core Phenom on the off chance it might unlock to a quad, buy a quad it’s the only way to guarantee 4 cores. I have heard, and seen evidence on the web, that some of these also unlock to “Phenoms” i.e. you are able to “unlock” the extra onboard cache when enabling ACC etc from within the bios but mine didn’t, I don’t know if it’s due to the shipping with the F1 bios or my chip just won’t unlock, I couldn’t update the bios as other than the home page the Gigabyte website seemed to be down.

For £70-80 it’s almost a no brainer as mine did Phenom speeds at stock voltage and only required a minor voltage increase across the board to achieve 3.7Ghz, this is in no way guaranteed as all systems, even identical ones, behave differently.

Pros

• Bargain price it retails around £70-80.
• It Overclocks like a dream.
• Performs as well or better than a Phenom 955 at similar speeds.

Cons

• You need to overclock to get the best out of it.

Reality Check: For the money this chip costs I really cannot recommend it enough if you are on a tight budget then this chip really is for you. Definately RECOMMENDED.

Reviewed by Mac

Thanks to AMD for supplying the X4 620 for review.