The AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition is the successor to the well known Phenom II X2 550, which has made its rounds through the online media a while ago, due to the ability that some samples have of being unlocked to a full Phenom II X4.

This new X2 555 model is available in the AM3 form factor - which also works in AM2+ compatible motherboards - and has a clock of 3.2GHz, 6MiB of L2 cache and an HT link @ 4 GHz. Being a Black Edition CPU, it comes with no cooling fan and an unlocked multiplier.

Intel has a prototype processor that aims at being more energy efficient in all product ranges, from mobile to server markets. The new processor performs tuning based on various parameters, including clockspeed, temperature and voltage. By using some of die space, Intel's engineers are able to do way with some of the methods used today in processor binning.