AMD Phenom X4 9950 & 9350e Review -part 4-

Pricing:

AMD has released official pricing, but what we see now on the net is a bit high. The Phenom X4 9950 initially comes in at $235 taking over the spot from the 9850. In a week however pricing will drop to about $205. With the Core 2 Quad Q9300 at $270 that looks like favorable pricing. With this move the 9850 will become a non Black Edition part, but AMD expects it to continue as a Black Edition for some time until later this year.

The 9150E and 9350E are priced at $175 and $195 respectively. You pay the premium for the lower power consumption here. Currently we have found these CPUs below.

Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition
Buy.com $300.99 free shipping

Phenom X4 9150
PC Nation $223.48 free shipping

We were not able to dig up pricing on the 9350, but as of right now things are at first availability costs, and should come down soon.

Conclusion:

This is a much needed booster shot to the Phenom line which doesn't solve AMD's overall problem with performance but provides great value and excellent power consumption levels. Thanks to ATI's amazing chipset in the 780G with already very low power requirements and that of the Phenom X4 9150e or 9350e you have one heck of an HTPC machine with low power consumption and heat. This is very alluring and AMD is clearly on top currently with Intel and Nvidia when it comes to IGP. The 9950 is a good boost if a small one but does yield easily the best Phenom overclock we've seen yet going all the way up to 3.2GHz stable, beating the 9850BE overclock by 300MHz so it definitely is a great chip too. The problem is it isn't good enough, and although a good deal at $235 compared to the Q9300 $275 or so AMD needs to come back strong with the next architecture. There is already talk of 45nm falling behind and that is already a fairly large blunder. Intel will probably charge a fortune for Nehalem but AMD wins a clear winner with their next new architecture, enough at least to match Intel's bottom line parts. ATI is doing great so far with their mid-range target strategy, which actually isn't that mid-range since it clobbers the GTX 260. Intel is a much larger competitor than Nvidia but hopefully some of that magic can rub off.



Phenom 9350e Score: 95%

Phenom 9950 Score: 91%

AMD Phenom X4 9950 & 9350e Review -part 1-

ATI has been on a roll lately starting with the Radeon 3870 last year, the 780G earlier this year, Puma, and the Radeon 4850 and 4870 which swept the rug out from under Nvidia and beat them handily in price and performance as well as adding on extra features. The question remains though for AMD's CPU division, when will they start flourishing as they did not so long ago now. Can the Intel goliath be toppled again? I can tell you now with the two new processors AMD is releasing today they aren't going to knock Intel off the top but are three new processors they are releasing today to add to the line: the Phenom X4 9950, 9350e, and 9150e.

Model	CPU Freq.	MC & HT(x2) Freq.	Max TDP	Core Count	Price
X4 9950 Black Edition	2.6GHz	2.0GHz	140W	4	$235
X4 9350e	2.0GHz	1.8GHz	65W	4	$195
X4 9150e	1.8GHz	1.8GHz	65W	4	$175

With the release of the 9950 Black Edition AMD steps up from the 9850 100MHz to 2.6GHz from 2.5GHz but also increases the max TDP to 140W. The Phenom 9950 Black Edition takes over the $235 pricing the 9850 had which will be reduced to $207 starting July 7th, a helpful heads up from AMD. These will still be 9850 Black Editions for a while in the channel but they will move towards normal edition eventually but should be able to get a 9850 Black Edition for a steal in a week.

The other new processors being released are the low wattage quad core processors, the X4 9350e and 9150e which have a max TDP of 65w. Previously 95 was the lowest TDP for Phenoms and it still is for even Intel's lowest clock speed quad core processors giving AMD a 30W advantage here. This could be a boon for HTPCs, file servers, or other computers that are run 24/7.

Other than that though there aren't too many changes to AMD's lineup. We should see some price cuts officially updated some time today on AMD's website but that's about it. So let's move on.

NEW AMD Phenom X4 processors TECH SPECS:
Processor Model / Frequency: X4 9950 / 2.6GHz
Processor Model / Frequency: X4 9350e / 2.0GHz
Processor Model / Frequency: X4 9150e / 1.8GHz
L1 Cache Sizes: 64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512 KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes: 512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size: 2MB (shared)
Packaging: Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)
Fab location: AMD's Fab 36 wafer fabrication facilities in Dresden, Germany
Process Technology: 65-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
Approximate Transistor count: ~ 450 million
Approximate Die Size: 285 mm2
Memory Controller Type: Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller *
Types of Memory Supported: Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)
Memory Controller Speed: X4 9950: up to 2.0GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
X4 9350e: up to 1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
X4 9150e: up to 1.6GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
HyperTransport 3.0 Specification: X4 9950: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 4.0GHz full duplex (2.0GHz x2)
X4 9350e: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.6GHz full duplex (1.8GHz x2)
X4 9150e: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.2GHz full duplex (1.6GHz x2)
Total Processor Bandwidth: X4 9950: Up to 33.1 GB/s bandwidth
X4 9350e: Up to 31.5 GB/s bandwidth
X4 9150e: Up to 29.9 GB/s bandwidth
Max Ambient Case Temp: X4 9950: 61o Celsius
X4 9350e: 70o Celsius
X4 9150e: 70o Celsius
Nominal Voltage: X4 9950: 1.05-1.30 Volts
X4 9350e: 1.05-1.125 Volts
X4 9150e: 1.05-1.15 Volts
Max TDP: X4 9950: 140 Watts
X4 9350e: 65 Watts
X4 9150e: 65 Watts
*Note: configurable for dual 64-bit channels for simultaneous read/writes

AMD PHENOM X4 9950 BLACK EDITION

The processor phenom X4 9950 (2.6 GHz) with TDP level not more than 140 W will be release in the usual version with the limited multiplier. According to the last reference , this processor will be presented in the fourth quarter of the present year. Motherboards producers already declared about the readiness of their products for work with socket AM2+ processor , which have the heat emission level of approximately 140 W. Besides Asus and Gigabyte, we can also note MSI company. The processor phenom X4 with 2.6 GHz frequency can appear earlier than the fourth quarter. References about the processor phenom X4 9950 Black edition are already prescribed in some stores. Data about the TDP value differ.

Since AMD cannot propose the models series phenom FX only after passage on 45 NM technical process, temporary their place will be occupied by the black edition processor, which possesses the more attractive price. According to some data, this processor will be released in first July, moreover in the 140- watt version. Version with the lowered to 125 W TDP level will appear later (Q4 2008). The price of processor in parties from 1000 pieces will be $235. AMD Will simultaneously release the four core economical processors phenom X3 9350e (2.0 GHz) and Phenom X3 9150e (1.9 GHz) with TDP level is not more than 65 W. Their wholesale cost will be equal to $195 and $175 respectively. The prices of existing processors will be also lowered .