Nearly a year after Intel launched its first 45-nanometer chip Penryn, AMD has waged its war for a similar CPU space – it has introduced the Phenom II processor, which, like Intel’s Core 2 Quad processors, has been built by using the 45-nm manufacturing process.

Placing its processor in a category between Intel’s Core 2 Quad and Core i7 processors, AMD is making the Phenom II chips available in two versions - the X4 920 and the X4 940 Black Edition – to match right up respectively against Intel’s 2.8 and 3.0 GHz Core 2 Quad CPU frequencies.

In comparison to the older 65nm processors, 45-nm processors have lower current leakage, higher frequencies, and tighter tolerances. Due to 45-nm architecture, both AMD and Intel have been able to put larger cache memories on the processors, improved memory bandwidth, and lowered power consumption.

David Schwarzdach, AMD’s senior manager of the desktop division, noted that the company has updated the layout of the X4 940 chip, by putting in extra 4 MB of additional cache, and adding support for DDR-3 memory. Moreover, power consumption has been increased by 30 to 50 percent, thereby enhancing average performance.

Giving the Phenom II a technical edge over rival Core 2 Quad chips, are the processor’s features like integrated memory controller and HyperTransport interface.

Though theoretically, AMD’s new arrangement is aimed at improving system performance, the chip still falls short of being an out-and-out winner – the practical testing of two Phenom II machines, the Dell XPS 625 and the Maingear Dash, being a proof thereof!