With the turn of the year, AMD is keeping hard on updating its current processor line. As with most manufacturers, tweaks to current designs lead to new speed boosts or even new chips based on how well the tweaking process works. AMD is a big runner with chip tweaks, bringing us a slew of models and capabilities to choose from. AMD has always been great at releasing new chips aimed at every user’s budget, big or small. With this latest round, AMD brings to the table a new low price Phenom II quad-core, as well as the newest quad-core flagship to replace the Phenom II X4 970. These two chips share the majority of the Phenom II characteristics with the exception of the X4 840, which allows it to become the cheapest Phenom II quad-core on the market.Will these new chips hold up among the current leaders? We will be putting them through a set of tests designed to tell us just that. Without further ado, we will start off with a better look at the processors and what makes them each special before getting into the testing portion.