Athlon II X2 255 vs Phenom X3 8550

Place in the ranking	2679	2664
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.13	0.02
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	0.72	1.08
Architecture codename	Toliman (2008)	Regor (2009−2013)
Release date	April 2008 (16 years ago)	25 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$170	$60

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Phenom X3 8550 has 10550% better value for money than Athlon II X2 255.

Detailed specifications

Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	3 (Tri-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	3	2
Base clock speed	no data	3.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.2 GHz	3.1 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	512 KB (per core)	1 MB
L3 cache	2 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	65 nm	45 nm
Die size	285 mm²	117 mm²
Number of transistors	450 million	410 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Socket	AM2+	AM3
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255 are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

no data

DDR3

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255.

PCIe version

no data

2.0

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Phenom X3 8550 0.72

Athlon II X2 255 0.74
+2.8%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Phenom X3 8550 1151

Athlon II X2 255 1175
+2.1%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.72	0.74
Physical cores	3	2
Threads	3	2
Chip lithography	65 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

Phenom X3 8550 has 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads.

Athlon II X2 255, on the other hand, has a 2.8% higher aggregate performance score, a 44.4% more advanced lithography process, and 46.2% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255.

Should you still have questions on choice between Phenom X3 8550 and Athlon II X2 255, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.