Triple-core AMD Phenom chips ship
AMD announced Thursday that it is shipping triple-core processors, a first for the PC market. AMD also updated the quad-core Phenom lineup and reaffirmed that quad-core Opteron chips for servers will be available later in the second quarter.
AMD Phenom models
(Credit: AMD)The AMD Phenom X3 8400 (2.1GHz) and 8600 (2.3GHZ) triple-core processors are the first processors that use three cores. This is expected to allow AMD to target price-performance points that two- and four-core processors can't easily match. "The value proposition is simple. Three cores versus two cores. You make the choice," said Pat Moorhead, VP of Advanced Marketing at AMD. "When you've maxed out your two cores...(this is an) extra core to do background tasks," he said.
The initial Phenom X3 processors will ship as the B2 "stepping" or version. The follow-on versions in the channel will be the B3, said Moorhead. The B3 version fixes the TLB bug, which AMD has said all along is an extremely rare occurrence and affects virtually no one except, possibly, very high-end customers. Any chips designated with a "50" suffix will be a processor that implements the fix in silicon.
When paired with the AMD 780 series chipset, the triple-core Phenom will deliver the greatest performance improvement--up to 30 percent compared to dual-core at the same clock speed--according to AMD.
Intel may respond to the mainstream segment challenge by changing its pricing equation. "Intel may go after it with a high-performance dual core or under price a quad core. A sub-mainstream quad core is most likely," said Dean McCarron, founder and Principal of Mercury Research.
AMD also announced the immediate availability of four new high-performance Phenom X4 processors with the TLB bug fix. Led by the AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition processor (which is designed to be overclocked), the CPUs will be matched with the AMD 790 series chipsets. The quad-core Phenoms are targeted at higher-end gaming segments.
Hewlett-Packard is already offering the Phenom X3 and X4 in business PCs and will add systems to its consumer lineup too, said Thi La, director of marketing, North America Consumer Computing, HP, in a prepared statement. Dell is also expected to offer systems.
AMD also announced an energy-efficient desktop quad-core processor, the Phenom X4 9100e that operates at a maximum of only 65-watts.
The chipmaker also said that the quad-core Opteron "Barcelona" processor will be available from computer manufacturers in the middle of the second quarter.
Phenom pricing:Phenom 9850: 2.5GHz--$235*
Phenom 9750: 2.4GHz--$215
Phenom 9750: 2.4GHz--$215
Phenom 9650: 2.3GHz--$215
Phenom 9600: 2.3GHz--$251*
*Black Edition
AMD roadmap
(Credit: AMD)
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
http://www.uberpulse.com/us/2008/03/amd_to_launch_faster_quadcore_desktop_chips_new_triple_core_video.php
- by henryaryashekhar July 1, 2009 6:53 AM PDT
- My system with Phenom X3, Phenom 8600,2.3 GHz processor, M3A78-EM ASUS Motherboard,2 GB DDR2 DIMM (ECC,BS 800Mhz)RAM, Seagate SATA2 HD 250GB. Quick Bios Boot is enabled,yet booting is comparatively slow even compared to a Celeron 2.4 Ghz D845GVSR series Mother Board, 256MB DDR RAM, Seagate PATA 40 GB HD,which on enabling rapid bios boot and silent boot was much faster,if on the background of present micro technology, number of core and integer mod value of 1 or 2 second are technologically significant. Post Message shows a lot of seconds is used in USB Controller Initialization,action halts for a considerable time.
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