AMD today releases it's new B3 revision Phenom X4 processors. Solved and free's of the nasty TLB issues, the new and new, old CPUs are set to finally give Intel some reasonable competition and offer customers parts with a good performance-price ratio.
Coming in AM2+ form, the Phenon 9050 series CPUs go from 2.2 GHz (Phenom 9550), 2.3 GHz (9650) through 2.4 GHz (9750), and 2.5 GHz (9850 Black Edition) and all feature HyperTransport 3.0, a DDR2-supporting memory controller and 2MB of shared L3 cache. These B3 processors have 95W (9550, 9650, 9750) or 125W (9750 and 9850 BE) TDPs and are set to become widely available in April.
In the 8000 series we now spot the tri-core Phenom as well. The tri-core CPUs includes two Phenom parts that are set for "gamers and digital media enthusiasts" who want a good performance per price ratio and they are basically quad-cores with one busted and disabled core. Codenamed Toliman, the triple-core Phenom 8400 and 8600 are clocked at 2.1 GHz and 2.3 GHz respectively.
In terms of prices, the Phenom 9550 will be $209, the 9650 $215, the 9750 still $215 while the only B3 and highest-end Black Edition Phenom, the 9850 will cost $235, in 1000-unit tray quantities. The prices of the last three CPUs will go live on April 7 so that's probably the day they will start hitting the stores in sufficient numbers.
We're also expecting to see a 9850 Black Edition as well as the 9950 clocked at 2.6GHz, but these parts aren't listed yet.
| AMD Phenom triple-core & quad-core processors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Frequency | L2-cache | L3-cache | socket | TDP |
| X4 9850 | 2,5GHz | 2MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 125W |
| X4 9750 | 2,4GHz | 2MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 125W/95W |
| X4 9650 | 2,3GHz | 2MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 95W |
| X4 9550 | 2,2GHz | 2MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 95W |
| X4 9100e | 1,8GHz | 2MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 65W |
| X3 8600 | 2,3GHz | 1,5MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 95W |
| X3 8400 | 2,1GHz | 1,5MB | 2MB | AM2+ | 95W |
New AMD Phenom B3 CPU's launch today
