Even if AMD is not leading the market in terms of pure brute performance, it still finds categories where it can brand the product with "world's first". This time, it's the world's first and still only quad-core processor with a price under $100. The performance of AMD's Athlon II X4 620 may not be something spectacular, but this processor is a huge, huge milestone in delivering multithreaded performance to the average consumer, without having them to pay a whole lot of money for it. Multithreaded programs are entering the consumer market slowly but surely, and processors like Athlon II X4 620 will definitely speed things up.
Performance-wise Athlon II X4 620 is not the fastest processor, it's not the most energy efficient either, although it has the potential. It's not the best choice for gamers or overclockers, but you could never say it's slow either. So what is it? It's cheap, it's cool, it has four cores and it can produce average to good performance in everything you can throw at it. And most importantly, it beats the crap out of competition in the same price segment, including AMD's own Phenom II X2 processors.
After introduction of the Athlon II X4 series, there is really no point going with a dual-core Athlon II or Phenom II model, even the higher clocked and more expensive Phenom II X3s stand under a big question mark. Intel on the other hand has no answer whatsoever to AMD's Athlon II X4 620. Fighting AMD's new quad core with a several years old Core 2 Duo is just not going to cut it, and the cheapest Intel Quad Core Q8200 is still around $60 more expensive than AMD's Athlon II X4 620.
AMD showed us they learned their lesson with its Athlon II X4 620, a lesson that competition won't forget that easily. Currently it's the best thing you can get for your money if you're looking for all-round performance, but with upcoming changes in Intel's lineup, only time will tell how long Athlon II X4 can hold its ground.