14 DAY TRIAL // Chip manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices is reportedly preparing to update its tri-core Phenom X3 line-up with the new, bug-free B3 silicon stepping. As you probably know, the X3 chips are still built on the B2 silicon revision, that is still affected by the Traslation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) erratum.
Some of the online resellers have already listed the new offerings for pre-order, although they are expected to arrive in the near future. The line-up refresh will replace the Phenom X3 8400, 8600, and 8700 chips built on the B2 silicon with similar parts on the B3 revision.
The upcoming Phenom X3 processors will be stamped with the "50" suffix, showing that the TLB bug has been fixed. Pricing is also expected to change with the advent of the bug-fixed chips, yet some of the e-tailers list the units of the new silicon at prices of between $218.99 and $195 for the Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz).
The Phenom X3 tri-core processors have already started to show up in systems built by Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and its eMachines subsidiary. The computers are expected to be widely adopted on the low-budget market, as they deliver increased performance over the previous dual-core offerings, but at the same time, they are more affordable than the company's high-end quad-core processors.
The tri-core chips can also be paired with the 780G chipset, that comes with hardware decode capabilities and deliver a "full HD experience".
According to Robert J. Rivet, AMD's chief financial officer, the B3 revision of the tri-core Phenom X3 silicon will play an important role in increasing the second-quarter chip sales. He also claimed that the company expects financial improvements as more and more Phenom processors are added to the existing lineup.
"The quad-core architecture that we also use for triple-core will have good benefit right away," he concluded.