Yesterday marks the release of the $99 quad-core, the Athlon II X4. AMD delivers the new "Propus" core, a cut-down Phenom II X4 without L3 cache.
The new CPU is very capable and doesn't even compromise much to the Phenom II X4 in some situations, like rendering applications. What is more interesting perhaps, is the CPU's ability to outperform the old "Agena" core without posessing any L3 cache:
Although this isn't the norm, the architectural improvements AMD made when transitioning to the 45nm process have helped the new Athlon II X4 to perform admirably.
The lower price of $99 makes the Athlon II X4 620 a better processor than what the Core 2 Quad 8200 is right now. In some situations, the newcomer is even more interesting than the Phenom II X3 720 - priced above it - but gaming does suffer from the lack of a big L3 cache - which is mostly the biggest downside, besides the locked multiplier.
Overclocking does turn the table considerably in Intel's favor.
AMD is expected to start shipping only L3-less "Propus" based Athlon II X4 processors but you may grab yourself an unlockable core if you act fast, based on "Deneb" cores that power the Phenom II. Earlier steppings will have a better chance at that.
Overall, AMD delivered an excellent processor with the Athlon II X4 620. The Athlon II X4 630, priced at $122, isn't as interesting, given the only slight increase in clockspeed from 2.6 to 2.8GHz - the price difference just doesn't justify the premium for a well informed buyer.
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