Power-consumption and HEXUS.bang4buck
AMD's Phenom X3 8750 hasn't fared too well so far, its performance is close to Intel's dual-core chip, but not close enough. Now, let's take a look at power-draw to see how a tri-core Phenom X3 8750 system compares to the rest of the field. As always, we're using our watt-meter to take power measurements at the mains.
It should be noted that the Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 was tested with EIST disabled, but with C1E still enabled.
At near-zero load, the quad-core systems consume more watts when idling. This is of course expected, due to their transistor-rich design.
Load power-draw, which we know to be high on the power-hungry Phenom X4 9850, is obviously lower on AMD's Phenom X3 8750, due to its one-less core.
HEXUS.bang4buck
Assessing our HEXUS.bang4buck rating is never easy. As with our Phenom X4 9850 review, we'll be using three graphs to make it easier to comprehend. The first will show bang4buck in a single-threaded scenario, namely our HEXUS.PiFast benchmark. The second will show bang4buck in multi-threaded gaming, for which we'll be using our Quake 4 results. The third will illustrate multitasking, using the time taken to encode multi-threaded DivX whilst playing a 1080p QuickTime video.
| |
HEXUS.PiFast | Quake 4 | Multitasking | UK Price (Scan.co.uk) | US Price (Newegg.com) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom X3 8750 | 71.4 | 74.4 | 74.6 | £128 | $195 |
| AMD Phenom X4 9750 | 70.5 | 73.8 | 88.8 | £137 | $215 |
| AMD Phenom X4 9550 | 65.6 | 70.6 | 81.1 | £123 | $200 |
| AMD X2 6400+ | 89.7 | 81.3 | 57.9 | £103 | $163 |
| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 88.9 | 83.3 | 100 | £135 | $230 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 | 100 | 100 | 72 | £114 | $190 |
So, the above table shows performance in percentage form and it just so happens that Intel dominates the competition, claiming 100 per cent on each benchmark with either its Core 2 Quad or Core 2 Duo chip. In order to get our HEXUS.bang4buck, we simply divide the benchmark percentage by the processor price. Simple enough, right? For our UK comparison, we'll be using prices taken from Scan.co.uk.
Unfortunately for AMD, the Phenom X3 8750 is battling only its X4 siblings in our HEXUS.bang4buck PiFast rating. As expected, single-threaded value for money lies with the dual-core chips; Intel's Core 2 Duo E8200 and AMD's X2 6400+.
No changes in our Quake 4 HEXUS.bang4buck rating. Spending more on tri-core or quad-core processors doesn't yield the required boost in performance and therefore, the dual-core chips remain best value for money.
Multitasking, where multiple cores prove their worth, is a different matter. Here, the cheaper price of both dual-core processors can't compensate for poor performance.
Unfortunately for AMD, a combination of lacklustre performance, and pricing too similar to Intel's Q6600, leave the Phenom X3 and Phenom X4s trailing behind Intel's quad-core part.
HEXUS.bang4buck summary
Our HEXUS.bang4buck has reached a familiar conclusion. Dual-core processors do just fine until you burden them with concurrent workload, after that, quad-core processors show their worth.
The bad news for AMD is that its Phenom X3 8750, priced at £128, is beaten by Intel's £114 Core 2 Duo E8200 in all of our performance-per-pound scenarios. Spend £7 more than the Phenom X3 8750, and you'll be able to land Intel's £135 Core 2 Quad Q6600, it'll best any Phenom currently available.
