Legit Reviews

AMD Phenom X3 8750 Triple-Core Processor Review

Just hours ago AMD announced the availability of three new AMD Phenom X3 triple-core processors that feature the latest B3 stepping. AMD first announced triple-core processors back in September 2007, but only just recently launched the AMD Phenom X3 8000 series last month. AMD has finally brought the 'B3' stepping to the triple-cores and has announced three new AMD Phenom X3 triple-core processors that make up the new '50-series'.

When it comes to performance the AMD Phenom X3 8750 performed much faster than the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and actually beat out the AMD Phenom X4 9600 (Running the TLB Patch) in a number of benchmarks. It was also able to perform better than the Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 and Core 2 Duo E6750 as seen in the benchmarks. Intel still has the lead when overclocking, but AMD hasn't been marketing the Phenom X3 series as enthusiasts parts. With that said, we still managed to get another 500MHz out of the Phenom X3 8750 by overclocking just the bus frequency.

Article Title: AMD Phenom X3 8750 Triple-Core Processor Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/697/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $195 MSRP

AMD is no longer ashamed of their triple cores and has sent out review samples I see.

Dan

DIS-A-Pointing

oh yeah, it sometimes outperforms intel's entry level dual cores

Ahhh don't be so hard on AMD, as this is what we have come to expect from them after all.

Hey it at least it overclocks 500MHz and has no TLB erratum... In all honesty it's a great little chip. It's not as energy efficient as Intel, but that is because it is 65nm. When the 45nm cores come out AMD might actually be in the lead for energy efficiency although I'm going to say now that a large performance boost will not be seen. If AMD could have had the 50 series out last summer/fall they would be in a better spot than they are now, but at least they have working product and if it fits your budget then all the better.

skierkid450 wrote:DIS-A-Pointing

oh yeah, it sometimes outperforms intel's entry level dual cores

not really when you think about it. these things are not really aimed at beating a lot of the intels at gaming or high performance stuff, they are just your average slightly better than mainstream chip. although they may not perform as well as the e8500 you have to put it in perspective and consider the market they were targeting. id love to have one of these in an HTPC with a 780g mobo. great combo for a great price

martini161 wrote:... although they may not perform as well as the e8500 you have to put it in perspective and consider the market they were targeting. id love to have one of these in an HTPC with a 780g mobo. great combo for a great price

Ditto!

I'm excited by the X3.

AMD is first to market in the x86-64 bit arena with the X3.

This was a surprise to read, " ... Results: Sandra XII SP2 showed that the Phenom X3 8750 had great memory bandwidth as it was able to out perform the AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition. "

More memory shared for three cores vs. less if four.

Nate, you are one busy individual. It would be great fun to test that X3 in the Gigabyte 780G MOBO with all of those OC settings. I know, you only have so much time. The tax rebate should be in the mail. Maybe I can have the fun.

Amy's April 21st News Around the Web pointed out something worthwhile from motherboards.org;

"... From a strict performance point of view the AMD Phenom X3 8750 CPU is not going to win any awards in most cases. From a platform point of view, AMD is announcing their new “Cartwheel” platform centered on Phenom CPUs and the 780G graphics platform which has the great HD3200 class graphics. This turns the argument on its head. A Phenom 8750 with a 780G motherboard would cost around $290 today. This will give you excellent integrated graphics with full compatibility across DirectX 10 titles, with nearly the performance of the HD3400 series discrete graphics. The competition in the form of the Intel E8400+Intel G35 chipset would run you around $300. In that vein the Phenom X3 8750 CPU makes for an interesting choice for the hardware enthusiast. Do you buy a Dual Core Intel CPU with a G35 motherboard with admittedly mediocre graphics performance and no official DX10 support? Or is the better choice to buy a similarly priced Triple Core+AMD Integrated graphics solution that gives slower CPU performance but higher gaming performance across the board with full DX10 support? The choice is pretty clear to me as a reviewer, I want to game. "

So much truth in that paragraph.