Specs, our gaming estimate and the graphics cards it pairs well with.
The AMD Phenom II X4 940 is a E-tier gaming processor: #224 of 238 in our list, with 4 cores and 4 threads up to 3 GHz. At 1080p it can feed a card like the Arc A380 without a CPU bottleneck above 10%, and at 1440p a Radeon RX 6500 XT.
Updated October 3, 2026
Gaming index (Ryzen 7 9800X3D = 100) against the processors closest to it.
The AMD Phenom II X4 940 scores 10 on our gaming index, where the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is 100. That puts it #224 of 238 processors we track, in E tier. It is slow by current standards, and recent games will often run well below what the graphics card can do.
It has 4 cores and 4 threads, boosting to 3 GHz. With 4 cores, the newest games will stutter or limit your frame rate, because they are built for six or more.
The AMD Phenom II X4 940 uses the AM2+ socket, so it fits motherboards with that socket. It is the fastest chip we track on that socket, so there is no drop-in upgrade.
It is rated at 125 W. Intel and AMD chips at this level draw well above their rating when they boost, so budget for a good tower cooler or a 240 mm liquid cooler and a power supply with headroom.
At 1080p, where the processor matters most, the AMD Phenom II X4 940 can feed a card up to the Arc A380 before it starts to hold the card back by more than 10 percent. At 1440p the limit moves to the Radeon RX 6500 XT. At 4K, where the card does most of the work, it can keep up with the Arc A580.
The AMD Phenom II X4 940 is old or low power. Expect new games to run poorly, and look at an upgrade before you buy a new graphics card.
Graphics card performance index it keeps up with at each resolution.
The AMD Phenom II X4 940 is a E-tier gaming processor: #224 of 238 in our list, with 4 cores and 4 threads up to 3 GHz. At 1080p it can feed a card like the Arc A380 without a CPU bottleneck above 10%, and at 1440p a Radeon RX 6500 XT.
At 1080p it can feed a card like the Arc A380 without a CPU bottleneck above 10%. At 1440p, a card like the Radeon RX 6500 XT is a reasonable ceiling.