It was nice while it lasted (about two months) but it appears the Phenom II X4 955 is going to have to let go of its title of flagship AM3 CPU as another, more powerful model is being prepared by AMD. The Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is clocked at 3.4 GHz - 200 MHz higher than the X4 955, and features 6MB of shared L3 cache, an integrated DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, 4000 MHz HyperTransport and a TDP of 125W.

The new 45nm processor comes has an unlocked multiplier and should become available in the near future, probably with a price tag higher than that of the X4 955 (unless, of course, it's meant to replace it at $245). Wait for it.