Advanced Micro Devices, of Sunnyvale, Calif., late last month launched its latest Phenom, the X3 series. The X3 is built on the same silicon as the X4, except it's a triple-core processor. The CRN Test Center evaluated the Phenom X3 8750 and found it to function just as we expected.
To get an accurate baseline, we installed the 2.4-GHz 8750 into the same testbed we've used for other AMD processors, an Antec case housing a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, with 2 GB RAM, an Ultra 3X 1,000-watt power supply, a 160-Gb SATA HDD, and Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1.
| • PRODUCT NAME: AMD Phenom X3 8750
• PRICE: $195/ea. per thousand
• DISTRIBUTORS/
• COMPANY: Advanced Micro Devices |
AMD's goal is to help builders create entry-level, sub-$500 performance PCs that can do a lot more than a dual-core PC for the same, or even less, cost of acquisition. Using Primate Labs' benchmarking tool Geekbench 2, the Test Center watched the X3 8750 score a respectable 3461. Our tests of the 2.5-GHz X4 9850 in the same motherboard yielded a 4333 and the 2.5-GHz dual-core 4850e attained a 2619. Considering the 8750 is 100 MHz slower than the other two chips, its score is about where we expected it would be.
The X3 CPUs are rated with a maximum TDP of 95 watts, compared to the X4's maximum of 125 watts. AMD is positioning the new processors as part of its "Cartwheel" platform.
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