AMD is gradually going to move its entire Athlon64 processor line over to socket AM2. As the new 940-pin socket is not backwards compatible with existing DDR-based socket 754/939/940 K8 processors, the company is introducing chips from the value Sempron series all the way up to the flagship Athlon64 FX-62.

PCSTATS is focusing on just the top two socket AM2 processors in this review, and they just happen to be the most expensive chips AMD is offering. If you're on a budget and hankering to adopt an AMD socket AM2 processor you should be able to find compatible processors for as little as $77USD.

Initial AMD Socket AM2 Processor Models and Energy Efficient CPUs Socket AM2 Processors Standard Efficiency Energy Efficient Clock Speed Price Athlon64 FX-62 125W - 2.8 GHz $1031 Athlon64 X2 5000+ 89W - 2.6 GHz $696 Athlon64 X2 4800+ 89W 65W 2.4 GHz $645 Athlon64 X2 4600+ 89W 65W 2.4 GHz $558 Athlon64 X2 4400+ 89W 65W 2.2 GHz $470 Athlon64 X2 4200+ 89W 65W 2.2 GHz $365 Athlon64 X2 4000+ 89W 65W 2.0 GHz $328 Athlon64 X2 3800+ 89W 65W, 35W 2.0 GHz $303 / $323 / $364 Athlon64 3800+ 62W - 2.4 GHz $290 Athlon64 3500+ 62W 35W 2.2 GHz $189 / $231 Sempron 3600+ 62W - 2.0 GHz $123 Sempron 3500+ 62W - 2.0 GHz $109 Sempron 3400+ 62W 35W 1.8 GHz $97 / $145 Sempron 3200+ 62W 35W 1.8 GHz $87 / $119 Sempron 3000+ 62W 35W 1.6 GHz $77 / $101

What's even more interesting is that AMD is set to introduce a series of energy efficient socket AM2 processors that consume dramatically less power than its standard models. Still, there's no overlooking the fact that the worst offender in the AM2 line up is the Athlon64 FX-62, it has a maximum power spec of 125Watts. However, going forward it's clear that some power optimizations have occurred between identical processor models on socket 939 and AM2 platforms. For example, the AM2 Athlon64 X2 series now draw 89W, a reduction from 110W for identical socket 939 parts. The vanilla Athlon64 CPU has dropped from 89W to 62W on socket AM2 also.

A special class of energy efficient socket AM2 processors will offer further power reductions when they are released. This collection of AM2 CPU models is listed in the above chart, and the chips boast operational power specifications as low as 65W and 35W. Nice! The energy efficient processors have the same operating frequencies, L1/L2 cache, etc. as the standard models, but obviously come at a price premium.

In this course of this review PCSTATS will measure real world system power loads for the socket AM2 Athlon64 FX-62 and X2 5000+ processors. We'll introduce you to a metric born of server hosting facilities, discuss how the new socket AM2 formfactor shapes up, its supporting chipsets, and cover a few other new technologies before diving into a comprehensive set of gaming, workstation content creation, and office benchmarks so you can see for yourself what potential these processors offer.

There is a lot to cover, so feel free to jump ahead to specific sections if that is what interests you most.