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AMD Phenom™ X4 9850 quad-core processor
Computer Shopper
"AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition"
“The most intriguing product of the lot, however, is the Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition. This puppy comes with a 2.5GHz core clock and a 2GHz north bridge clock—important because the north bridge clock governs the speed of the L3 cache. That should make the 9850 a little bit quicker than it might otherwise be. Like AMD's other "Black Edition" processors, the 9850 has an unlocked upper clock multiplier that makes overclocking ridiculously, guilt-inducingly easy. And although it's AMD's flagship model, the 9850 lists for only $235, well below the list prices for ostensible competitors like the Core 2 Quad Q6600. This combination of attributes should make the 9850 the one to have, in my view.”
TechReport
"AMD's Phenom X4 9750 and 9850 processors / Let's try this again"
“I said it at the beginning of this story—I’m a sucker for complete platforms able to work better as a collection of components from one vendor able to validate and support the whole package. AMD’s 790FX is the platform that Phenom needs.”
FiringSquad
"AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition Review"
“The Phenom X4 9850 is AMD's most powerful desktop processor to date. Due to the processor's higher clock speed and revised silicon that eliminates the TLB errata, the Phenom X4 9850 is measurably faster than all of AMD's previously released Phenom processors. In comparison to Intel's closest competitor, the Phenom X4 9850 competes well, trading benchmark victories with the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600.”
HotHardware
"AMD Phenom X4 9850 B3 Revision"
“One benefit that can't be overlooked for AMD's processors is the entire "Spider" platform that AMD has been quietly building over the last year. The components are all underdogs in the worlds they live, yet can easily be seen as equal, if not better, options than the competition.”
“The new Phenom X4 9850 processor is a very welcome newcomer to the processor segment and it could be responsible for a rebirth of interest in AMD CPUs... Its price should be attractive to a lot of gamers and enthusiasts as should combining an X4 9850 with a complete Spider platform.”
PC Perspective
"AMD Phenom X4 9850 Processor Review - Long Awaited B3"
AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 triple-core processor
“In the mainstream space, the Phenom X3 8750 could easily be used in a budget PC when paired with an AMD 780G-based motherboard. In that usage model, you could have an AMD triple-core with arguably the best IGP available to-date, versus an Intel dual-core with an inferior IGP. If you're planning to build a PC and use integrated graphics, the Phenom X3s and 780G make a great combo. Considering how well the Phenom X3 8750 overclocked, and the relatively low price of AMD 790FX-based motherboards and DDR2 memory, the X3 8750 should also appeal to modders on a budget…. AMD's platform is significantly more compelling than it was just a few weeks ago, thanks to the release of B3 Phenoms and these new tri-core processors.”
Hot Hardware
"AMD Phenom X3 8750 Tri-Core Processor"
"Now if we look at the platform, AMD does actually have an advantage. The AMD 780G's integrated graphics is a far better solution for the casual gamer than what Intel offers with its G35 but on top of that, 780G offers full H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2 decode acceleration making it a far better platform for watching Blu-ray movies. With the format war over and Blu-ray drives unbelievably affordable right now, this is a serious issue for Intel."
AnandTech
"AMD's Phenom X3 8000 Series: Fighting Two Cores with Three?"
"Processors play a big role in determining system performance, but they’re one piece in a much larger puzzle. Resellers able to match AMD’s Phenom X3 to a capable platform will be the ones to give their customers a great computing experience."
"AMD’s 780G chipset fits the role perfectly. Not only does it support the Socket AM2+ interface and all of Phenom’s differentiating features, but the platform also leverages an integrated Radeon HD 3200 graphics core. Forget what you think you know about integrated graphics. The Radeon HD 3200 incorporates the same logic you’d find in AMD’s entry-level discrete cards to yield the performance and feature set you’d expect from an add-in board. It’ll do DirectX 10 graphics, accelerate Blu-ray movie playback, and even output HDMI to a big-screen TV. When your customer is ready for an upgrade, you can add a $50 Radeon HD 3450 card and enable Hybrid Graphics—a CrossFire-like technology able to use both GPUs for even faster performance."
"For less than $300, you can get a triple-core processor, a 780G-based motherboard with built-in video, and a Radeon HD 3450 discrete card ready for Hybrid Graphics. Whether you’re selling into businesses or home theaters, the X3/780G combo promises to be a hot seller this summer."
Reseller Advocate Magazine
"AMD’s Phenom X3: Not So Odd After All"
“When we first heard about the Phenom triple-core processors, I have to admit I was very skeptical… As it stands now from the performance outlook, the AMD Phenom X3 series of parts it pretty intriguing. In most of our tests the performance of the X3 8750 CPU was better than dual-core processors including AMD's own Athlon X2 6000+ and the Intel X6800 2.93 GHz part.”
“I was expecting the X3 8750 to use less power than the quad-core X4 9850 CPU but the results are better than I expected… I could see the X3 line making a good choice for a high performance yet lower power HTPC box.”
“Another part of that value comes in the platform you can get with an AMD processor that you can't with Intel's own chipsets. The AMD 780G chipset is still our favorite option for integrated graphics solutions and if you are building a second system or one for family I really think the motherboard offers more than adequate performance for everyday use and general gaming. The same can NOT be said for Intel's IGP solutions though NVIDIA's options for Intel processors are decent as well.”
PC Perspective
"AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz Triple-Core Processor Review"
“The new 50-series Phenom X3 triple-core processors performed great for being the first processor to operate with three cores. None of our testing applications had any issues with the triple-core design and the motherboards we tested it on all worked as well. This also means that consumers will be able to use AMD Phenom X3 processors as an upgrade option as you can just drop them into many socket AM2 boards that are already on the market today.”
“Also keep in mind that the Phenom X3 triple-core processor is similar to X-Box 360’s configuration, which might help marketing and sales down the road. As more and more games are ported over from the Microsoft X-Box 360 to the PC it might just mean that triple-core is all you need for gaming.”
Legit Reviews
"AMD Phenom X3 8750 Triple-Core Processor Review"
