AMD launches B3 Phenoms
X3 and X4s, B2s and B3s, eight in all
AMD IS RELEASING the long awaited 'B3' Phenoms today with no TLB bug. It may be a day late and a few hundred MHz short, but they are finally out. Whoopee!
There are 8 new SKUs coming of various flavors, 3 and 4 core variants, and even some new B2 stepping parts. AMD wisely differentiated between B2 and B3 parts in the product name, B2s are 8x00 or 9x00, B3s end up with 8x50 or 9x50. Basically if it ends in 50, it is a new part. In the era of stupid and purposely confusing names, this is a ray of sunshine.
The vital stats
The 9xxx series are all quad core parts, the 8xxx are tri-cores, and all but the 9100e and the 8xxx parts are B3 steppings. The 9100e and 8xxx parts are older B2s, but don't be surprised if they are phased out sooner rather than later as B3s take up more of the mix.
The pricing puts them right on top of Intel quads, a few dollars cheaper making them a pretty damn good deal. The gaps in the pricing are because they are OEM only parts. Expect the 9650 to cost about what a 9600 does, the 8600, 8400 and 9100e to run about $175, $150 and $200 respectively.
Coupled with a 780G mobo, a lower end X4 or an X3 would make a nearly unbeatable casual gaming box for $300 or less. If you look at things from a platform perspective, something that is basically impossible not to do anymore, AMD makes up for a lot of CPU weakness with chipset and GPU goodness.
The news is not all that good though, starting with the wattage. If you look, the best that AMD can put out is a 95W 2.4GHz machine or a 125W 2.6. Lets hope for their sake that the early ramp of the B3 parts starts skewing toward higher clocks soon, 2.5GHz at 125W is not enough to make Intel notice, much less be afraid.
While it isn't going to set the overclocking world aflame, not literally, the offerings do represent a solid mix for retail parts. More mainstream priced quads will do well at Best Buy and retail channels and the tri-cores do not have a counter from Intel, and won't for a long time.
The X3 and X4s are bittersweet news. They should have been out in September, but they are finally here. With any luck, AMD can now put the last year behind them and move on. If nothing else, that is great news. µ
Comments
Launch?
Is it my imagination or has the standards for "launch" been drained even further?We are now considering a new STEPPING to be a launch?
'Shipping' is now considered a launch?
Parts with no pricing at launch? (You now have to guess at some of the pricing? Huh?)
Pssst... we're launchng some parts we already launched last year... Prices you ask? Eh, we'll announce that later - it's not like people are going to be able to buy these things on the launch date. We've got plenty of time to fill in the details.
By the way could you clarify if the wattages are TDP or 'ACP'?
AMD needs a miracle!!!
Looking at the current trend of events it will take a miracle from heaven, to help save AMD from what seems to an all too clear death ahead.Now, if only
AMD would get the rest of the lead free out, specifically the SB710 or SB750, the pieces for a fairly decent AMDATI box would fall together. E8xx prices have risen apparently due to low supply, X48 boards seem shockingly pricey although not that much worse than X38, and this is not the year to go DDR3.Just ordered a 9850 X4
for that price, to get a quad core CPU which I will overclock to 3hgz...its a no-brainer!I also noticed that the max temperature of the Phenom 9850 X4 is just 61 celsius, which is really cool; with the right fan its going to be quiet too.
Finally
is the B3 stepping there and Opteron in 2 socket or 4 socket looks competitive. AMD is far from dead and in a major process getting back on track. Graphics Business is back on track after great execution on Radeon 3850/70 HD series and in wonderful shape on the FIREGL front, but most customers do not know about their incredible price/performance ratio in the Workstation Graphics Arena. The new integrated Graphic Chipset blows away all others... Let's hope that 45nm fixes the CPU business.ACP....
These are ACP numbers I've been told. This is not good news for AMD.A 2.5Ghz quad that uses MORE power then a pair of the new Intel low power 2.5Ghz quads!
I wonder how fast they can get the power down and the clock speed up as they need to do that to stay in the game.
Whoopee!
Whoopee indeed!Mr. Charlie "the AMD salesman" can't help but to keep his obsessive happiness towards DAMMIT!
Good for you!
tri-core
i don't think Intel really needs a try core to compete with AMDs i would much prefer a 45nm dual core that can overclock to 4Ghz over a tri-core 2.1. Hell i would probably prefer 65nm dual core that can reach 3.5 than a tri-core. Well maybe a little pressure from AMD will be enough for Intel to get some 45nm chips in retail..ones that don't cost $1000.different TDP definitions
AMD measures TDP at maximum current delivered to the CPU, while Intel doesn't. This skews the power consumption picture when looking at the spec sheets, since they are apples and oranges.The only way to accurately assess power consumption is to measure it, which is still difficult to compare since they use different motherboard platforms with different power consumption figures.
By comparing multiple AMD cpus on one mobo and multiple Intel cpus on another mobo you can determine how much power they are actually using, its the most accurate way.
you forgot something
You complain about the wattage of the cpu's, but you fail to remember that even though Intel CPU's have lower wattage. The chipset that Intel's chips use consumes way more wattage than the chipsets that the Phenom and Athlon chips use. So that pretty much even out once you include the amount of wattage used by the chipsets.I can see [dead] prices..
@joe (comment dated 28 December 2007?)There they are:
http://www.amd.com/pricing
Its' More Chipset Failure, Than CPU.
One thing still NOT available are OEM mainboards that can retail Vista Ultimate. Some assemblers promote home premium, yet its NOT same.Ultimate has Media Center with Personal Video Recorder, like XP Media Center only next generation of software. Blaming Lower cost/high qual cpu is NOT answer, these Units are near TOP with good price/performance. Yet, What can they plug into, inferior mainboards that won't reliably play TOP operating system, Ultimate 64.
Some systems are very good, costing $6k or above & still home premium-SHEEISH, why'd anyone want that? Nice Home Theatre system is all people ask for. So Far, We are completely on our own with NT6.
Its CHIPSET thats lacking, not processor. Even AMD old X2 does Ultimate fine. If AMD wanted to start something, Start with 100% warrentable Vista Ultimate 64 Chipset & watch those department stores fill in gaps. One that has 3d'6 numbers in ten thousand+ range.One multi GPU card. One Winner.
Thomas Drashek
Phenom Gaming?
Unbeatable $300 gaming rig? Even sticking to AMD, a $75 AM2 MB, $65 4200 X2 plus a 3870, which is down to $170 at newegg, would kick the living bejezzus out of your "unbeatable casual gaming rig" for the same money.Idea combo
My ideal combo would be one of those 780 motherboards with an Intel quad core (or two), that'd be purty awwwsome.I can't see [dead] tricore prices!
Nice link...must have missed he section on the 'launched' tri-cores. Please, not another AMD apologist.Eh, who need pricing when you do a launch?!?So a 2.4GHz, 125Watt Phenom costs exactly the same as a 2.4GHz,95Watt Phenom which costs exactly the same as a 2.3GHz, 95Watt Phenom? And why effective 4/7? Aren't they 'launched' this is after all a 'hard launch' correct?
Makes a lot of sense... wonder if all the $215 parts have similar availability? I'd much prefer to buy the lower speed part at the price of the next higher speed bin.
A mere 8 product SKU's (5 if you omit the 9x00 series) servicing what AMD has proclaimed the 'niche' quad core desktop market... and 3 of the 5 parts have the same price and all of them are within a $30 price range!
Come on Charlie, how about an honest commentary article on the pricing logic and the strategy behind the quad, tri, and (eventually) dual core Phenom launches?
AMD needs a miracle!!!
The sign of the cross (X) has been observed on all of AMD's new processors. The AMD Devoutful are hailing the advent as a miraculous phenomenom. Go forth and figure!Intel Lovers Don't Get
AMD has finally shut up Intel by delivering competitive CPUs. As proven by Intel's Laterbee graphics, they even now know that games and video matter. Many people will combine an Intel Q9300 and the G3 and wont be able to run games and BluRay HD video. You can take a $150 AMD X3 with 780G and run COD4 and BluRay movies great!@launch
actually being able to buy the part (shipping) is a good thing.So long S940
It is a shame that AMD has completely abandoned the S940 line. AMD used to be a great company when it came to socket longevity (see: Socket 7, Socket A). Now, they seem to be changing sockets every year or two.As a result, complete system upgrades are required to get more mature multi-core processors. That means throwing away many gigabytes worth of expensive PC3200 ECC memory and high-end mainboards.
If I literally have to toss my entire system, what prevents me from replacing it with an Intel Xeon system? Nothing, actually.
Can I have a Brisbane Athlon X2 for my 939 system and a Toliman for my 940?
Check the first post
Was that first post really Joe from Overclockers.com ??It might not have been him ... not vitriolic enough I guess ...
I just thought it was some Intel Shill ...