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AMD Phenom X4 9750
| Caractéristiques | |||
| Socket | AM2+ | ||
| Number of cores | 4 | ||
| Clock rate | 2.4 GHz | ||
| Cache | 2 MB | ||
| Thermal Design Power | 125 W | ||
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| Technology | 65 nm |
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Régis Jehl
Test date: November 6, 2008
Test date: November 6, 2008
Phenom X4 Line
Phenom processors made their debut in November 2007, with the X4 9000 series. The X4 9050 series, of which this 9750 is a member, followed soon after in April 2008 to correct a bug reported in the earlier line.
Using K10 architecture, these CPUs all have four cores, a 2 MB cache and fit AM2+ sockets.
The fact that they are manufactured at 65 nm does nothing to improve their efficiency, and they have a relatively high Thermal Design Power of 125 W.
Using K10 architecture, these CPUs all have four cores, a 2 MB cache and fit AM2+ sockets.
The fact that they are manufactured at 65 nm does nothing to improve their efficiency, and they have a relatively high Thermal Design Power of 125 W.
Despite featuring four cores, AMD's Phenom X4 line are best described as entry-level processors.
This X4 9750 is the fastest member of this range that we tested at 2.4 GHz, but it still doesn't manage to beat Intel's Core 2 Quad Q8200 which runs at a 'mere' 2.33 GHz.
Compare the AMD Phenom X4 9750 with the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 and other CPUs in our
Product Face-Off
Product Face-Off
Without getting too technical, we have to conclude that AMD's X4 CPUs just don't match up to Intel's Core 2 Quad line when you compare products with equal (or very similar) clock speeds.
Worse still, this quad-core processor also found itself outclassed by the dual-core Core 2 Duo E8600 in certain tests.
For instance, applying a complex filter in Photoshop CS3 takes the X4 9750 4 minutes 49 seconds, a long way behind the E8600's 3 minutes 53 seconds.
Playing games doesn't seem to be what the X4 series is designed for, either, with a poor framerate of 28 fps in our World in Conflict tests.
By contrast, some of Intel's best Core 2 Duo processors--with half the number of cores, remember--get closer to 40 fps.
Despite these poor performances, the X4 9750 doesn't manage to be particularly energy efficient.
It was one of the few processors in our test to cross the 300 W barrier, taking our test PC up 303 W when running at 100% and 195 W while idling.
By way of contrast, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 only pulls 222 W and 161 W respectively.
Pluses
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Makes use of its four cores in some applications
Minuses
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Not as powerful as it should be
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Uses too much power
We find it quite hard to recommend you buy any of AMD's Phenom X4 processors. They might look cheap, but they fall way short of the mark given they're quad-core models.
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