AMD today launched three new Phenom X3 “50” Series triple-core processors. In addition, AMD also announced a low-power quad-core Phenom X4 processor. The new chips released by AMD are launched just days after Intel’s flurry of price cuts that took place earlier this week. The price cuts considerably upped the pressure on AMD and have forced AMD to rethink its strategy, especially because the company has mainly been attempting to stay competitive with Intel offerings through price.
All three of the new chips sport AMD’s X3 moniker, which signifies that they are triple-core chips. The AMD Phenom X3 8750, the fastest of the new tri-core chips, runs at 2.4 GHz and is priced at $195. The Phenom X3 8650 runs at 2.3 GHz and is priced at $165. Bottom on the list is the Phenom X3 8450, which runs at 2.1 GHz and is priced at $145.
These new Phenom X3 processors are based on AMD’s B3 stepping. The Phenom X3 processors that were delivered to OEM partners earlier were based on AMD’s B2 revision,which sufferred from a nasty bug in the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) in the L3 cache.
AMD is attempting to make its new Phenom chips more attractive by combining them with the company’s 780 series chipset. According to the company, the duo will offer consumers “a full HD experience.”
AMD says the new processors will give consumers a more balanced option compared to NVIDIA and Intel. “On one side, we have Nvidia saying that the only thing that matters is graphics. On the other side, Intel is saying that the only thing that matters is the processor. AMD offers a balanced platform that doesn’t overemphasize one really expensive component over another really expensive component,” said Brent Berry, AMD product marketing manager.
AMD’s low-power quad-core Phenom X4 was also launched today. Dubbed the Phenom X4 9100e, the new chip has a total Thermal Design Power of 65 watts. Comparatively, AMD’s standard Phenom X4 chips have a 95 watt thermal envelope.
In addition to the three new tri-core chips and low-power quad-core processor, AMD also updated its low-end offerings with two new 45-watt processors; the Athlon X2 4450e and X2 4050e. As the name indicates, the new chips are based on AMD’s Athlon architecture. Both chips are dual-core and respectively run at 2.3 GHz and 2.1 GHz.