AMD Phenom 9900
We've covered the quad-core Phenom architecture in detail right over here, and we urge to you take a look if you want to appreciate what makes the quad-core Phenom tick along with a better clock-for-clock performance than the dual-core Athlon 64 X2.
The fastest Phenom processor to date, yessir, but it's an unreleased version that will be shipping in Q1 2008 with an estimated UK price-tag of £199
The same as any other AM2(+) CPU.
Facts and figures
| Processors | Clock speed | L2 cache (total) | L3 cache | Voltage | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom 9900 | 2.6GHz | 2MiB | 2MiB | 1.3V | up to 140W | £199 in Q1 2008 |
| AMD Phenom 9700 | 2.4GHz | 2MiB | 2MiB | 1.25V | 125W | N/A, Q1 2008 |
| AMD Phenom 9600 | 2.3GHz | 2MiB | 2MiB | 1.2V | 95W | £180 |
| AMD Phenom 9500 | 2.2GHz | 2MiB | 2MiB | 1.2V | 95W | £160 |
Here's our engineering-sample Phenom 9900 processor in CPU-Z.
| Processor name | AMD Phenom 9900 | AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | AM2+ (940-pin) | AM2 (940-pin) | LGA775 | LGA775 |
| Manufacturing process | 65nm | 90nm | 65nm | 65nm |
| Die size | 285mm² | 219mm² | 286mm² (2 x 143mm) | 143mm² |
| Transistors | 450m | 243m | 582m | 291m |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Inst. per clock | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Pipeline stages | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
| Clock speed | 2.6GHz | 3.2GHz | 2.67GHz | 3.0GHz |
| FSB/HT clock | 200MHz | 200MHz | 266MHz (1066MHz QDR) | 333MHz (1333MHz QDR) |
| Memory support | DDR2, 1066MHz, DC, ganged, un-ganged | DDR2, 800MHz, DC | DDR2/3, 1066MHz/1333MHz, DC | DDR2/3, 1066MHz/1333MHz, DC |
| L1 cache total | 128KiB data + 128KiB code | 128KiB data + 128KiB code | 128KiB data + 128KiB code | 64KiB data + 64KiB code |
| L2 cache total | 2MiB (512Kib per core) | 2MiB | 8MiB | 4MiB |
| L3 cache | 2MiB | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ISA | x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE4a | x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3 | x86, x86-64, SSE-SSSE3 | x86, x86-64, SSE-SSSE3 |
| TDP | 125W | 125W | 95W | 65W |
| Operating voltage | 1.3V | 1.3-1.35V | 0.85-1.5V | 0.85-1.5V |
| Current price | £199 in Q1 2008 | £119 | £330 now (£199 in Q1 2008?) | £165 |
We've included the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 processor as that's closest in clockspeed to the AMD Phenom 9900. We fully appreciate that AMD's pricing is based upon release in Q1 2008. As a result, we expect the Core 2 Quad Q6700's to fall in line with AMD's projected 1000-unit pricing.
Summary
The processor that should have been launched and made available on launch day, the Phenom 9900 should provide the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 a decent run for its money. Note the use of the conditional tense?But the processor is only one part of the Spider triumvirate. Let's hop on to the AMD-supplied system now.
