Update: Circuit board makers using Advanced Micro Devices' high-end quad-core Phenom chips claim that there are compatibility issues with select boards. This comes as the chipmaker struggles to churn out processors that are competitive with Intel's offerings.
AMD quad-core Phenom X4
(Credit: AMD)This issue was reported Monday at the Web site HKEPC.
AMD confirmed Monday that some motherboard suppliers are mismatching high-end quad-core Phenom processors with a lower-end chipset. (The motherboard is the main circuit board in a PC. The chipset allows the processor to interact with other components, among other functions.)
"What people have done, mistakenly, is paired a 780G (chipset-based) motherboard with the higher frequency Phenom--the 125-watt Phenom," said Jake Whitman, an AMD spokesperson.
Whitman is referring to the fact that the high-end 9750 and 9850 Phenom processors have a Thermal Design Power (TDP or thermal envelope) of 125 watts versus the lower-end 9600 and 9550 models that have a TDP of 95 watts. The higher-watt parts will not work with motherboards that contain the 780G chipset. The lower-end models do not have these TDP issues.
"They've taken an enthusiast-class quad-core part and paired it with a mainstream motherboard," Whitman said. "And not all motherboard manufacturers have tweaked their boards to support a 125-watt TDP." Whitman says that AMD's 790 chipset--not the 780--should be paired with the 9750 and 9850 processors and that a number of motherboard makers are already doing this.
"We've never made claims that 780G motherboards are enthusiast-class motherboards," Whitman said.
The inability to use high-end quad-core AMD processors on some motherboards may be symptomatic of a larger challenge. AMD is finding it difficult to compete head-on with Intel quad-core offerings in the consumer segment. Hewlett-Packard and Gateway, for instance, offer desktops with only the lower-performance Phenom chips, such as the 9100e (1.8GHz) and 9600 (2.3GHz). Neither HP nor Gateway offer desktops with higher-performance 9750 (2.4GHz) or 9850 (2.5GHz) Phenoms.
Meanwhile, Intel-based systems from these companies--though usually more expensive--come with quad-core chips ranging up to a 2.83GHz Q9550.
Whitman says there's a reason for this. First-tier PC makers "are not necessarily interested in building the fastest AMD-based quad-core systems, but are more interested in price." He expects wider adoption of the high-end Phenom chips with system builders and game-enthusiast PC makers.
In related news reported by CNET News.com on Monday, supercomputer maker Cray said it would adopt Intel quad-core processor designs for its supercomputers. Though Cray says it will continue to offer configurations with AMD chips too, the move by Cray is seen as an endorsement of Intel multicore designs. Before this announcement, Cray had been using AMD processors only.
Advanced Micro Devices officially announced on Wednesday an updated Phenom chip line amid severe price pressure from Intel.
As expected, AMD has updated its triple-core Phenom X3 processors with the "50" series. The 8450, 8650, and 8750 models will replace and supplement the current 8400 and 8600. The newer models contain a fix for an extremely rare "TLB" bug.
The Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processor is priced at $195, the 8650 (2.3GHz) at $165, and the 8450 (2.1GHz) at $145.
AMD also announced a low-power quad-core Phenom X4 9100e processor that has a Thermal Design Power (TDP) or thermal envelope of 65 watts, compared with the 95 watts of standard X4 processors.
AMD Phenom processors with the new X3 models in bold.
(Credit: AMD)
AMD is looking to bundle the Phenom X3 chips with its 780 graphics silicon in low-cost gaming PCs. Hewlett-Packard and Gateway are currently using Nvidia graphics in their consumer boxes that use Phenom X3 chips.
According to AMD, the X3 platform offers the best balance of processor and graphics: "On one side, we have Nvidia saying that the only thing that matters is graphics. On the other side, Intel is saying that the only thing that matters is the processor. (AMD offers) a balanced platform that doesn't overemphasize one really expensive component over another really expensive component," said Brent Berry, product marketing manager for AMD.
But things may have just gotten a lot tougher for the No. 2 processor maker in the higher-end quad-core segment. Intel on Sunday cut prices on quad-core processors by up to 50 percent, undermining--or in some cases eliminating--AMD's price advantage.
"This product cycle is already discounted," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at CRT Capital Group. "This puts additional pressure on AMD."
Intel's price cuts brought its quad-core Q6700 (2.66GHz) down from $530 to $266 and its Q6600 (2.4GHz) from $266 to $224. The latter is now priced below AMD's top-line quad-core Phenom 9850 (2.5GHz), which is listed at $235.
"With a 16 percent price cut, the Q6600 is now undoubtedly the processor of preference for a budget quad-core system," review site Hexus said.
AMD Phenom X3 logo
(Credit: AMD)Advanced Micro Devices will refresh its triple-core X3 processor lineup with versions that fix an outstanding bug. A number of online resellers already list the upcoming processors.
Currently, AMD offers the X3 8400, 8600, and 8700. These are so-called "B2" versions of the processor that contain an extremely rare "TLB" bug. AMD will update this series with a B3 version that fixes the bug in silicon.
A number of resellers already list the Phenom X3 processors as the 8450, 8650, and 8750. The "50" suffix indicates that the bug fix is integrated into the chip.
Though pricing may change, on Friday afternoon, TheNerds.net listed more than 1,000 Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processors in stock at a price of $218.99. Newegg listed the same processor at $195.
Consumer systems from Hewlett-Packard and Gateway that use the Phenom X3 8400 are on the market today. These desktops are available at Best Buy for as little as $550.
The Phenom X3, when paired with the 780 series chipset, can provide a "full HD experience" and, with the AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD), can process HD playback on the graphics processing unit (GPU) rather than the CPU, AMD said.
During AMD's first-quarter earnings conference call, AMD chief financial officer, Robert J. Rivet, said that the B3 version of the triple-core Phenom should contribute to AMD's bottom line in the second quarter. Rivet said he expects improvement as AMD continues "to increase the lineup of Phenoms available. (The) quad-core architecture that we also use for triple-core will have good benefit right away," he said.
He also noted that AMD's processor and graphics lineup is consumer-centric. "The wild card issue is the environment we're in...in the consumer space, which is the world we play in mostly."
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