10 - Power Consumption & Conclusion

Power consumption

Alright then, let's monitor something besides performance... power consumption.

We'll now show you some tests we have done on overall power consumption of the PC, and the overall power consumption is just fine. Mind you that we are looking at the complete PC power draw from the wall socket, there will always be some subjective factor in this, none the less .. pretty reliable.

Once we stress the 4 CPU cores on the Phenom X4 we peak at 246 Watt, with the triple core based 8750 we see 203 Watt. Actually not bad. Also temperature wise we noticed very respectable results with the CPU Idle at roughly 33 Degrees C and when peaking at near 47 Degrees C, with just a reference Akasa air cooler.

The Verdict

Before we head into the conclusion let me just state that this wasn't a review loaded with benchmarks and other CPUs as we usually have. DHL delivery was late, very late and less than 15 hrs prior to the passing of the NDA the CPU arrived. Though we did a good number of tests, we did want to do some more as this is a very special product from and architectural point of view (three CPU cores). Especially since we had an anomaly here and there. Fear in 10x7 for example and with Everest the FPU tests would not kick in. It is what it is. Though, the results yielded do give us a pretty good indication of what the Phenom X3 8750 is all about. It is on par with where it should be performance wise.

There's a lot to say about the Phenom triple core processor. But no-matter how you look at it, three is a weird number in this digital binary encounting computer world for sure. See, we are used to doubling up things, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 ... But hey, three is better than two cores that's for sure. Fact is, the triple core processors are 100% based on the Phenom architecture, making them effectively the cheapest Phenom processors money can buy. However, a tight spot here is the actual price. Opposed to a Phenom X4 9750 for example, you need to keep in mind that the Triple core processor tested today is only $25 less than the quad-core version Phenom X4 9750, which runs at the same clock speeds. However, the Phenom X3 8650 runs in at $165 making it cheapest Phenom processor out there.

So there's definitely a peculiar market dynamic going on here as the faster clocked triple-core processors are nearly as expensive as the quad-core counter part, and my feeling is that people in the end will go for that extra core unless prices drop even further.

Suffice to say that for gaming and desktop performance there hardly will be a noticeable difference between the two as the reality is, 4 cores in simultaneous use is rare. Today's applications only start to make use of two cores let alone three or four. Next year however, I do expect things to change. the technology arena is already slowly preparing for six and eight core consumer based processors.

But when you look at it from the '2008' point of view this could be a very interesting mainstream processor, as it will offer good value for the money you pay. bare in mind that the new xx50 series is based on the updated B3 stepping of the processor which is the 'fixed' version, no more TBL bug. Very important to know.

So then, with the Triple-core processor AMD definitely sufficiently saturated the mainstream processor market. It will be an appealing processor for HTPC builders and gamers on a budget. The next move hopefully will be a broad attack on the high-end segment, it's good to see AMD slowly but steadily crawl back on it's feet after a year they hopefully soon can forget. If anything, we as consumers need a company like AMD to compete with Intel. It's good for product development, evolution and pricing. In the end, everybody benefits from that greatly.

For gamers, HTPC builders, en generic PC users that can't spend more than 160-195 USD on a multi-core processor, the Tri-Core processor actually comes recommended, though I do hope that the prices will come down as little as the difference between the Quad core and Triple core processors is in our opinion very tiny.

But no matter how you look at it, the Phenom X3 series processors offer a lot of value, you'll like it as it is an adequate processor for any generic PC.

Thanks go out to AMD for providing this processor.