Gizmodo: phenom

AMD Phenom II Quad Core Reviewed: Great Today, But Tomorrow's Cloudy

matt buchanan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:00:00 EST

Ars reviews AMD's latest quad-core, the Phenom II, against a barrage of Intel chips and finds that while it "puts AMD back on the map" against today's chips, AMD's got a "long-term problem." [Ars Technica]

Phenom SpecialOps Cellphone Watch: A Tacit Booyah

Mark Wilson — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:15:00 EST

I don't care how big of a Dick Tracey you look like using the Phenom SpecialOPS cellphone watch; its adolescent awesomeness goes unspoken.

Having absolutely nothing to do with AMD Phenom processors, this Phenom watch is a completely unlocked GSM phone (ready to take any SIM card you've got) while simultaneously functioning as an MP3/MP4 player through a MicroSD port. Other features include a 1.3" touchscreen display, Bluetooth, speakerphone, numeric keypad and a videocamera.

Yes, this cellphone watch handles video when the iPhone still doesn't.

If the SpecialOps' $300 asking price is a little high for your tastes, Phenom has other models available, including the $235 Mi5. None of the models are necessarily inside of impulse buy territory, but hey, no contracts needed! [Phenom via unwired view]

AMD Shows Off Phenom II Processor's Headroom, By Overclocking to 5GHz

Kit Eaton — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST

From AMD's upcoming chip roadmaps we know the Phenom II is due out early next year, and it's AMD's second 45nm chip, but in a recent show and tell session AMD demonstrated the "overhead" built into the chip by overclocking one to a crazy 5GHz. It did take a special CO2 sublimation cooling unit that carries the danger of suffocating you if you use it in a small room, but what the hey. With a liquid nitrogen cooling system the chip was easily pushed way over 5 gigs. You may think "yeah, I could overclock anything with that stuff!" but it should be noted that with fairly normal high-end air-cooling the chips could get up to 4GHz. It'll be interesting to watch AMD's battle with Intel's i7 play out. [PCPerspective]

AMD Processor Roadmap Leaked Online: Quad-Core "Deneb" Phenoms in January

Kit Eaton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:45:09 EDT

AMD's immediate processor plans have been leaked in the form of a PowerPoint slide to Spanish site CHW.net. Dual-core "Brisbane" Athlons at 2.6GHz are due in October, alongside "Toliman" triple-core Phenoms. November sees the single-core "Lima" Athlon chip, obviously destined for low-power devices, since it runs at 1.6GHz and draws just 15W. Most interesting to processor fanatics will be the 45nm Phenoms slated for a January 8th launch. Both are quad-core "Deneb" chips, one running at 2.8GHz, one running at 3GHz and both drawing a chunky 125W of power. The "ultra-value client" devices scheduled for November are also intriguing: AMD's answer to Intel's Atom perhaps? [CHW.net via Reghardware]

AMD's Phenom X4 9950 Processor has Green 9350e, 9150e Siblings

Kit Eaton — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:47:00 EDT

Technically, the trio of new processors from AMD are pretty much the same: they have the same core, and similar feature sets. But while the 9950 Black Edition is a 140W, 2.6GHz overclockable monster (the most power-hungry Phenom AMD has made) the 9350 (2GHz) and 9150 (1.8GHz) are selectively binned and draw just 65W TDP. This makes them the most "power friendly" quadcore processors there are. The 9950 will cost $235 and at HotHardware.com they think it compares with Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600. While the 9350 and 9150 will cost $195 and $175 respectively, meaning that "eco-friendliness" won't save you many dollars in the chip price, but will cost you a chunk of clock speed. [HotHardware and UberGizmo]

AMD X3 Tri-Core Processor Reviewed (Verdict: Get a Quad-Core Chip)

matt buchanan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:31:00 EDT

Maximum PC has reviewed AMD's tri-core 2.4GHz Phenom X3 8750 CPU. It performs like you'd expect—in between quad and dual cores. Fine, but it's $195. You can pick up AMD's top quad core, the X4 9850 for only $235, or Intel's Q6600 (which mercilessly beat down the X4 9850 in benchmarks) for $224 now, or hell, $200 in a few weeks. So just get a quad core. Maximum PC also hints that a Core 2 Duo might keep pace with the tri-cores, but they're keeping that under wraps for now, bastards. [Maximum PC]

AMD Phenom X3 Triple Core Processors Are Crippled Quad Cores in Disguise

matt buchanan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:30:48 EDT

Part of AMD's multi-core Phenom blast today is the Phenom X3 8000, "the world's only triple-core x86 processor," which we heard about a few months ago. They're supposed to bargain chips for budget consumers, but they're a nicer bargain for AMD, actually, since it lets them dump bug-plagued quad-core Phenomsby disabling a core. But if performance is your top concern, you might want to steer clear of the whole Phenom batch anyway. We're still waiting for AMD's 45nm chippies, personally. [Hard OCP, Anandtech]

AMD Quad-Core Phenom X4 9850 Reviewed (Verdict: Owned by Intel Quad Cores)

matt buchanan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:57:39 EDT

The Phenom X4 9850 is at the top of AMD's latest heap of quad-core Phenoms. It's free of the performance-sapping bug that plagued the first batch of Phenoms, and AMD hopes it'll claw back some ground from Intel. Maximum PC stacked it up against two quad-cores from Intel—the mid-rangeish Penryn Core 2 Quad Q9300, as well as an older Core 2 Q6600. Ouchies for AMD, the Intel pair blew past it.

The Penryn-based Q9300 "owned the night," with the Q6600 trailing, and Phenom in back of both. It wasn't "so far behind as to be dead in the water" but "it doesn't quite go head-to-head with the Penryn lite." (They call the Q9300 Penryn-lite because it has half the cache of the higher-end Penryn quad-cores.)

The 9850 X4 is the fastest AM2 chip around, however, so if you're sticking with that board "it's a pretty good upgrade." The bigger problem is that AMD still has nothing to touch Intel's top quad cores, and won't for months, at least. [Maximum PC]

AMD Tri-Core Phenom Chips Coming to Dell Computers

Adrian Covert — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:30:05 EST

Amid rumors of Dell dropping AMD processors, TG Daily has discovered Dell actually plans to release a new line of Optiplex PCs with AMD Tri-Core Phenom processors. They also report Dell plans to feature AMD chips in future consumer products later this year. [TG Daily]

Intel Delays 45nm Quad-Core CPUs to Give AMD a Breather

matt buchanan — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:45:35 EST

Rather than continue hammering on AMD while they're down, Intel is apparently taking AMD's troubles as a little break of their own, delaying the launch of three 45nm quad-core Core 2 processors (Yorkfields) until Feb. or March, depending on AMD's release schedule for its upcoming tri-core and Phenom processors. This kind of reminds us of when Toyota wanted to raise its own prices to help out GM and Ford, which makes us sad. We prefer the far bloodier and more competitive processor wars of a couple years ago. [Digitimes via Inquirer]

ATI Has Triplets Thanks to AMD's New 55nm Processors

Haroon Malik — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:50:00 EST

AMD has just announced they shall be releasing three new graphics processors. ATI's R680 is the new model grabbing all the attention, thanks to its dual 55nm processor core. AMD were clear in stating the 55nm processors have identical specifications to those used in an earlier model, but the older RV670 GPU contained only one 55nm Phenom processor. The R680 will bring twice the fun with its dual core goodness and CrossFireX support.

AMD are also set to revise two existing models, the RV610 and RV630, which will both be treated to new 55nm processors, but shall remain otherwise identical. We know that Phenom cores have had a tough time courting favor with the experts, and though the new AMD triplet seem great on paper, we'll reserve judgment till they are unwrapped and put to the test. The products will all hit next month. Happy New Year, gamers. [Daily Tech]

Although we said AMD would make the Q4 2007...

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:40:19 EDT

Although we said AMD would make the Q4 2007 ship dates of Phenom chips, the '07 shipments are not going to be "substantial," says AMD's honcho. Better luck in 2008! [Reg Hardware]

AMD Quad Core Phenom Gaming System in the Flesh (and Blood)

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:00:00 EDT

We just got the chance to play around with AMD's newest quad core system, the Phenom RD790 and a pair of ATI HD2900XT graphics processors. There's a whole lot of cooling going on, thanks to John Woo's new game Stranglehold. AMD is still mum on pricing and final specs, though they did reaffirm their desire to ship this sucker in "early Q4" of this year, so like October? The system managed the Havoc physics engine with ease, jumping into sepia-toned "tequila" time and into a zoom mode that gave a bullet's eye view of the action. Lack of specs notwithstanding, the experience was mesmerizing, right up to the point where one of the bad guys in the game took a bullet in the nuts, and I actually felt his pain. Wanna see?