"Based on the 'Deneb' architecture of the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, this chip simply has two of its four cores disabled. The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition does retain the same L3 cache size as its big brother though, with a massive 6MB shared L3 cache that allows for faster, smaller 512KB of individual cache for each of the two cores. As the 550BE is part of AMD's Black Edition line up, it is multiplier unlocked for easier overclocking. The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition is built on AMD's 45nm manufacturing process, so processor TDP sits at a comfortable 80W."