Frankly speaking, considering test results of Phenom X4 9850, we were not keen on starting our tests of a lower-clocked Phenom X3 8750 with fewer cores: there were clearly no surprises in store, only disappointments. However, our initial negative thinking served the good turn, because we were not disappointed. On the contrary, we decided that some people may seriously like this curiosity. We even came up with something, but we'll inform you a bit later.

A brief description of this product is very simple: it's a reject of Phenom X4 with one non-operational core. AMD does not hide this fact (no need - it's too evident). Unlike quad-core processors from Intel, which are actually two dual-core processors "glued" in a single package, quad-core processors from AMD contain just a single die. So the die surface is relatively large. And the larger the surface, the more rejects. Phenom X3 was "invented" in order not to waste all these rejects.

However, it's not enough to invent a processor in our modern world that is ruled by marketing. One should also come up with its positioning. Apparently, AMD didn't think too long, because it offered the following positioning: triple-core Phenom X3 will compete with dual-core Core 2 Duo. Meaning that the competitor offers "only" two cores, while AMD offers whole three.

Actually we think this original decision has been affected by the fact that a dual-core Phenom is heavily outperformed by the equally-clocked Core 2 Duo in all tests. And three cores will help this processor look more or less decent, especially in applications well optimized for multiprocessing.

Well, let's see whether this product comes up to AMD's expectations.

Testbed configurations

• Memory: 4 GB (4 x 1 GB modules)
• HDD: Samsung HD401LJ (SATA-2)
• Coolers: Thermaltake TMG i1, Thermaltake TMG A1
• PSU: Cooler Master RS-A00-EMBA

* Per single core in multi-core processors.
** "X x Y" means "X KB per each of Y cores".
*** In AMD processors it's memory controller bus frequency.
**** Specified differently in Intel and AMD processors, so a direct comparison is not correct.

Benchmarks

* Means that two or more simultaneously active threads are actually present during tests; not just the fact that a process generates several threads.