AMD Phenom 9950 vs AMD Phenom II X2 550

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD Phenom 9950 and the AMD Phenom II X2 550 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD Phenom 9950 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the AMD Phenom II X2 550 has 2 cores and 2 threads. The extra cores of the AMD Phenom 9950 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 2.6 GHz and 3.1 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD Phenom 9950 uses the AM2+ socket and the AMD Phenom II X2 550 uses AM3, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 140 W for the first and 80 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

We do not have launch prices for both chips, so we cannot compare value.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the AMD Phenom 9950 can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 reaches the GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD Phenom 9950 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the AMD Phenom II X2 550 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.