April 24th, 2008
Reviews of the AMD Phenom X3 8750
Following my post yesterday on the AMD Phenom X3s, you asked for some performance numbers on the X3 8750. Below is a roundup of reviews that have been posted in the past 24 hours.
The verdict is mixed. The Phenom X3 is a nice upgrade for those who already have a system with a compatible AM2 motherboard, but it can’t match the performance of similarly-priced Intel Core 2 Duo processors on most tests. And for an extra $30 you can now step up to the Core 2 Quad Q6600.
Ars Technica: Toliman processors show significant advantages over dual-core products in some cases, but a mixture of software glitches and scaling issues prevent AMD’s Phenom X3 from showing a significant advantage in other tests.
Bit-tech.net: Of course, there are occasions when the new AMD triple-core processor shows its muscle, but it’s dwarfed by the Core 2 Quad Q6600 (which is selling for just £7 more than the X3 8750). This makes it hard to recommend the X3 8750 to anyone building a new system today. . .But, there are of course people out there that have already invested in socket AM2 or socket AM2+ and it’s for these people that the Phenom X3 8750 may be attractive.
Computer Shopper: For less than $200, Athlon X2 owners with AM2 motherboards can upgrade to a faster CPU and gain an additional core in the bargain. When building a system from the ground up, the Phenom X3 isn’t going to match similarly priced dual-core Intel CPUs in single tasks, but its additional core may make it an attractive choice for heavy multitaskers.
Hot Hardware: Throughout testing, the Phenom X3 8750 performed in-line with our expectations, outpacing the dual-core chips more often than not, and falling behind the quad-cores in all of the multi-threaded applications. Despite a huge clock speed disadvantage, the Phenom X3 8750 was able to outpace the 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E6850 in a handful of tests, and in all but a couple of tests it was faster than the 3.2GHz Athlon 64 X2 6400+ as well.
Legit Reviews: 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.
MaximumPC: If performance is king, you should avoid tri core and go straight to a quad. If you’re on the fence between a dual and a tri, we would take a tri-core Phenom over a dual-core Athlon 64 any day of the week, but up against an Intel Core 2 Duo, it gets a little trickier.
PC Perspective: AMD’s new triple-core Phenom X3 8×50-series of processors isn’t a slam dunk in performance or value compared to existing AMD parts but they do add a new twist to the constantly raging budget computer battle.
The Tech Report: The Phenom X3 processors’ problems aren’t in the concept, but the execution. The three cores simply aren’t quick enough, individually, to make this triple-core product look appealing. They’re a liability in single- and dual-threaded tasks, where the X3 8750 sometimes falls behind the much older Athlon 64 X2. The X3 8450 almost always does so. And the cores aren’t quick enough to really sell the three-way concept when they are all working together.
TweakTown: Phenom, while being a good processor is in no way a replacement for the Core 2. If you’re still after the highest performance you can get, Core 2 is the choice for now. However, if you’re after a more affordable option with an upgrade pathway for quite some time, Phenom is what you’re after.
John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
