Get ready for Phenom X3 Toliman B3

Today mark the availability of AMD Phenom X3 8650, not just paper launch or abroad launching, but the actual product now sold in Indonesia and also in my own town. Wow! This is very fast and un-expected.

Three models available for channels and it's already a B3 revision silicon. Well, hope this will entice people to buy more AMD Phenoms.

There isn't a lot of new information go over with AMD's Phenom X3 processors. First all the processors are denoted with an 8x50 series as opposed to the 9x50 of the Phenom quad core counterparts so it should be fairly easy to tell if a CPU is quad or triple core. Also all triple cores released to the channel are the B3 revision with the TLB fix and no performance penalty, although some OEMs have been selling 8x00 series triple core Phenoms without the fix. Due to one less core power consumption is also lower with the Phenom 8x50 processors rated for a 95W max TDP.

The architecture on the triple core Phenom remains unchanged. The only difference is one core is disabled for whatever reason, whether a bad core or because one core might be lagging behind in clockspeed compared to the others it allows AMD to use as many dies as possible and provide a processor that fits in between quad and triple cores for a very reasonable price.

The 8750 which runs at 2.4GHz will be launching at $195, $165 for the 8650 at 2.3GHz and $145 for the 8450 at 2.1GHz. Three cores for under $150 isn't bad at all. This also allows for AMD to fill out it's Cartwheel platform, with a 780G motherboard for around $100 you get good integrated video, UVD chip for HD decoding. Then add in a triple core Phenom X3 8450 for $145 and for total $245, a cost of Intel's cheapest quad core, you can get a very good setup. This seems especially formidable for an HTPC or a computer for those who want multi-tasking power but may not need the fastest processor for gaming or are looking at a second PC.

Reviews:
AMDZone
X-Bit Labs
Icrontic
Legit Reviews
Tech Report
Anandtech
Firing Squad
Bjorn3D
Lost Circuits
PC Perspective
InsideHW