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AMD to Release Triple Core Notebook Chip

Paul Lilly — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:30:09 -0500

AMD recently announced a bunch of new processors, including its first triple-core Athlon II chip, and coming soon, the CPU maker will also release a tri-core part for notebooks, Fudzilla says.

Planned as part of the Danube platform, the upcoming Phenom II triple-core N820 mobile processor will essentially be a quad-core part with one of the cores disabled. It will carry a 35W TDP and come packed with 1.5MB of total cache split into 512KB per core. It will also boast DDR3-1333 support, an HT speed of 3.6GT/s, and AMD-V support.

It's not yet known how fast the part will come clocked, nor is there any word on a projected release date or price point. But if AMD plays its cards right, the mobile Phenom could prove awfully tempting for consumers who want to step up from a dual-core platform but lack the ducats to go quad. Or it could force Intel's hand at lowering the price of its mobile Core 2 Quad chips. Either way, notebook shoppers stand to win.

Image Credit: AMD

Demand for Phenom X3 CPUs Rises After User Reports Unlocking Fourth Core

Paul Lilly — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:46:06 -0600

There has been some renewed excitement over AMD's triple-core Phenom X3 processors after at least one user claims to have been able to unlock the fourth core. The post appeared on Korean website Playwares.com backed by what appear to be legitimately looking screenshots. Using a Bisotar TA790GX motherboard, all it supposedly took was changing the "Advanced Clock Calibration" in the BIOS to 'Auto,' which reportedly unlocks the disabled core.

Citing un-named motherboard makers, DigiTimes says the report has caused an upsurge in demand for AMD's Phenom X3 chips. Those same sources also described the credibility of unlocking reports as very high, but cautioned that it might only apply to specific batches of CPUs and not the whole tri-core lineup.

Not surprisingly, AMD isn't commenting on whether or not the disabled cores can be re-enabled. And until we see it for ourselves or from a reputable source, we remain skeptical that it can be done.

Image Credit: Playwares.com

AMD Releases Three New Tri-Core Processors and Some Price Cuts

Paul Lilly — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:02:05 -0500

It can be argued that AMD didn't start to build an enthusiast following until the Barton days. Back then, the company's efficient processors not only held their own in performance, but destroyed Intel when it came to the bang/buck factor, both in regards to processor pricing and the overall platform (you could pick up a high end AMD motherboard for under $200). Ever since Intel finally responded with its Core 2 architecture, AMD has had a tougher time competing on the performance front, forcing AMD to slash prices, and that's what happening again. In addition to price cuts, AMD is also expanding its tri-core line.

The newly announced Phenom X3 8450e comes clocked at 2.1GHz and the Phenom X2 8250e putters at 1.9GHz. Both processors sport 512KB of L2 cache and 2MB of L3 cache, and both also come rated with a 65W TDP, compared to 95W for AMD's standard Phenom tri-core line. No pricing information has yet been announced for either model.

On the higher end, AMD's Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition will bring an unlocked multiplier to the table and cruise along at 2.4GHz. It will come with the same amount of L2 and L3 cache as the 8450e and 8250e processors, but rated at the aforementioned 95W TDP. Pricing has been set to $134 for bulk orders.

So what about the price cuts? AMD will drop it's X3 8450 (without the 'e' designation) down to $104 and X3 8650 down to $119, both in bulk.

Anyone plan on upgrading?

Image Credit: AMD

AMD Launches New 65W Tri-Core CPUs

Paul Lilly — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:10:54 -0500

For the AMD faithful not quite ready to step up to quad-core processing, AMD this week will start adding to its triple-core lineup. The new processors are based on AMD's Toliman core.

Phenom X3 8750 (2.5GHz, 95W)
Phenom X3 8550 (2.2GHz, 95W)
Phenom X3 8450e (2.1GHz, 65W)

Note the 'e' designation in the last processor, which will represent AMD's new lower wattage CPUs. The X3 8450e will be the first 65W tri-core out of the gates, followed by the Phenom X3 8250e (1.9GHz, 65W).

Astute readers might also notice that the Phenom X3 8750 is incorrectly clocked at 2.5GHz instead of 2.4GHz. That's not a typo, and according to TomsHardware, AMD plans to bump up the clockspeed by 100MHz. Not only that, but THW says the flagship tri-core CPU will sport an unlocked multiplier. Oddly enough, the site also reports AMD will release a Phenom X3 8850 clocked at 2.5GHz this October, with an unlocked version to follow in December. Go figure.

Image Credit: AMD

No BS Podcast #65: The Revenge of the Smith Edition

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:39:26 -0500

Dave, Will, Gordon, and Andy tackle all the huge tech news of the week on the 65th go-around of this awesome podcast, featuring stories like:

Why AMD (and not Intel) Wants a Tri-Core Processor
Why the Velociraptor is the fastest consumer-level hard drive around
Why Nvidia thinks GPUs are the future (go figure!)
Why we think this GUI for websites is awesome. (this one is ok too)

As always, we chat about our crazy goings-on in the Maximum PC lab, and answer each-and-every one of your reader questions... that's under 60 seconds in length.

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337.

Ready to crush the editors of Maximum PC in Team Fortress 2? Join our Steam group. Feel like stalking us? Check out our Facebook Page.

Modders and modding aficionados, head on over to Mod Shop! Check out all the entries in this month's crazy comic-themed modding contest! Submit and vote on the coolest mods around—and win prizes!

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

Hands-On Review of AMD’s New X3 Tri Core

Gordon Mah Ung — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:03:44 -0500

There are two ways to look at AMD’s new tri-core. The first: Why would I buy a tri core when I can get a quad core? The second (the one that AMD would prefer you use): Why buy a dual when I can get a tri?

That’s the fine line AMD is trying to walk with its tri-core 2.4GHz Phenom X3 8750 proc. It can’t fight Intel’s quads head on, but it’s hoping that people who are considering dual-core procs will see the value in having one more core.

Of course, that was all before Intel slashed prices on its quad-core procs. On April 20, Intel cut the prices of two of its elderly quad cores. The 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q6700’s price dropped from $530 to $266 when purchased in bulk. The real trouble for AMD, however, is the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600, which took a 16 percent price cut to $224. Just two months ago, the chip was priced at $299. With prices for the Q6600 already dropping to $224, this budget quad core will likely be available for $200 in a few weeks.

With that in mind, we fired up AMD’s X3 on an Asus M3A32-MVP with 2GB of Dominator RAM at 1,066MHz data rates, a 150GB WD Raptor, Windows XP SP2, and a GeForce 9800GX2 GPU. For comparison, we populated a new 45nm Penryn Core 2 Quad Q9300 and a Core 2 Quad Q6600 in an EVGA nForce 790i Ultra motherboard with the same GeForce GX2, WD 150GB Raptor, and Windows XP. The nForce 790i Ultra board features DDR3. Some will argue that the inability to run DDR3 is not Intel’s fault—it’s AMD’s. There is simply no way to run DDR3 on AMD chips right now. And while we could have tested the Intel chips using DDR2, we felt that it wouldn’t be fair to the Intel chips. Instead, we represent the chips on the best platforms available. DDR3, while exotic at the intoxicating high speeds of 1,800MHz and 2,000MHz, is almost affordable at 1,333MHz.

The chip itself should be familiar to AMD fans. It’s a 2.4GHz CPU with the same cache sizes as AMD’s top gun, the 2.5GHz Phenom X4 9850. Each core in the Phenom line features its own 512KB of L2, and all three cores share 2MB of L3 cache. As a 50-series chip, it’s free of the TLB errata that the original Phenoms had. All retail versions of the X3 series will be free of the TLB bug that hurts performance. AMD, however, is selling OEM-only tri-cores that still have the bug.

So how does the tri core stack up? Basically, it’s a quad core with one core turned off. From a practical standpoint, that means it’ll perform right between quads and dual cores. In most games, which generally aren’t optimized for quad cores, it’ll run with the quads. In most encoding applications, including video editing and other quad-optimized applications, it’ll attain roughly 75 percent of the performance of a quad-core Phenom and will definitely be slower than any of Intel’s quads. In other words, it’s not a bad performer in the context of where it’s being wedged.

Price, rather than performance, will probably be the deciding factor for anyone considering an X3. And that’s where AMD has a problem. With Intel putting incredible pricing pressure on AMD these days, the prices for AMD’s processors are incredibly compressed, so it probably doesn’t make sense to buy a tri core. At least not the top-end CPU. AMD’s fastest CPU, the 2.5GHz Phenom X4 9850 costs $235. The new 2.4GHz X3 8705 costs $195. Even more confusing, the 2.2GHz Phenom X4 9550 quad core also costs $195.

Of course, the big question is: What will Intel do in the coming weeks? With its preemptive price cut on the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600, the price of that chip at retail outlets drops literally every day we’ve checked this week. If the Q6600 pushes into the $190 range, the X3 doesn’t become competitive until you hit the 2.3GHz Phenom X3 8650 at $165.

This doesn’t factor in overclocking results, as everyone’s mileage will vary with overclocking. We can at least say that AMD’s 50 series B3 cores overclock fairly well. We pushed a 2.5GHz X4 9750 to 3GHz on air cooling, similar results should be expected from the X3s.

There’s also the issue of software compatibility. Fortunately, it’s likely a miniscule problem. However, it’s enough of an issue that AMD decided to inform benchtesters that certain test applications that don’t work correctly with tri cores. Some simply don’t work, while others don’t perform as expected because of sloppy coding that allows them to run on only one, two or four cores.

What should you buy? Ultimately, that’s up to you. If performance is king, you should avoid tri core and go straight to a quad. If you’re on the fence between a dual and a tri, we would take a tri-core Phenom over a dual-core Athlon 64 any day of the week, but up against an Intel Core 2 Duo, it gets a little trickier. We’ll visit that subject in a future story.

Speeds and Feeds
	Core 2 Q9300	Core 2 Q6600	Phenom X4 9850	Phenom X3 8750
Clock	2.5GHz	2.4GHz	2.5GHz	2.4GHz
L2	6MB	8MB	512KB	512KB
L3	N/A	N/A	2MB	2MB
FSB	1333	1066	N/A	N/A

3DMark06 Overall	13,990	13,565	13,594	12,420
3DMark06 CPU	4,103	3,856	3,807	2,944
Valve Particle Test	87	76	72	51
Valve Map Build (min:sec)	2:42	2:48	2:57	3:57
CineBench R10	9,622	8,763	8,065	5,893
ScienceMark 2.0 Overall	1,572.21	1,393.57	1,606.46	1,530.95

PCMark05 Overall	9,080	8,948	8,547	7,950
PCMark05 CPU	8,064	7,746	7,396	6,444
PCMark05 RAM	6,012	5,434	4,761	4,485
PCMark05 GPU	15,643	15,806	13,972	13,841
PCMark05 HDD	7,633	7,647	7,766	7,767

Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 (min:sec)	15:45	17:33	18:01	24:39:00
Photoshop CS3 (min:sec)	2:20	2:28	3:35	3:08

FEAR (fps)	199	209	200	202
Quake 4 (fps)	169.7	166.6	165.7	158.9
Unreal Tournament 3 (fps)	119	105	87	71
AutoGK DIVX 6.8 (min:sec)	9:36	10:07	11:44	13:40
AutoGK XVID (min:sec)	11:08	11:38	12:42	15:07
Volume Price	$299	$224	$235	$195
Street Price Retail	$279	$224	$236	Unknown
Street Price OEM	$279	$234	None found	None found