AMD is taking a shot at the desktop processor market with the release of three new Phenom processors. One of these CPUs, the new Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition, will become AMD's flagship model, taking the place of the company's previous title holder, the Phenom X4 9850. Unlike the Black Edition Phenom, the other two models are somewhat of a surprise, as they are built as low-power quad-cores. These two new procs are dubbed Phenom X4 9350e and Phenom X4 9150e and will be launched alongside the new Black Edition Phenom.

Advanced Micro Devices' new flagship model has been designed to offer overclocking enthusiasts and tweakers new levels of power. But at a price tag of $235, this Black Edition Phenom processor will only deliver a performance boost of 5%, as compared to the company's previous flagship model. Still, the new Phenom sports a number of first-time specifications. This means a high clock speed (compared to any other Phenom processors) and a maximum TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 140watt. To achieve its 2.6GHz clock speed, the new Black Phenom requires 1.04-1.3 volts.

Its "younger brothers", the Phenom X4 9350e and Phenom X4 9150e have their clock speeds rated at 2.0GHz and 1.8GHz. As mentioned above, these two are somewhat surprising and can be considered as "green" variants of AMD's new flagship model. Because they have lower clock speeds, they only require a maximum of 1.125v, which results in a much lower TDP level of 65 watt. This makes AMD's "green" Phenoms the most power friendly desktop quad core processors available, from a technical point of view.

Hot Hardware had a chance to put the new processors through a number of tests, which led them to conclude that AMD's new flagship model can compete with Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600. This means that AMD is still far from competing with the Santa-Clara based chip manufacturer, on the high performance desktop CPU market.

The new processors are expected to be launched today and will run for $235, $195 and $175 for the Phenom X4 9850 BE, X4 9350e and X4 9150e, respectively. The good news is that the Black Edition will have this price tag for only one week and is expected to drop to $205. The two "green" CPUs will be offered for sale, later this year.