14 DAY TRIAL // AMD is supposed to finally unveil its triple-core Phenom 8400 and 8600 processor during this year's CeBIT expo and show that will take place in Hanover during 4-9 March. The chip manufacturer will also unveil its low-power quad-core Phenom 9100e, but the other quads in the family, the Phenom 9700 and 9900 will, of course, be delayed to a later time.
The Phenom 9700 and 9900 CPUs were initially scheduled to be launched along with the 8400 and 8600 chips in the Toliman family, but AMD has once again delayed their launch in order to work on improving their overclocking potential. The Phenom 9550 and 9650 will still be launched during the second quarter of the year. It seems that the Phenom 9700 will be rescheduled for launch during the Computex 2008 show that will take place in early June.
The chain of delays continue with the second wave of triple-core processors, the Phenom 8700, 8650 and 8450. They will be unveiled a month later (the second quarter of the year). Moreover, according to sources from AMD's motherboard partners, the Phenom 8700, 9700 and 9900 will be renamed to Phenom 8750, 9750 and 9950 by the time they are officially launched.
The reason for renaming the processors is not clear as of the moment of writing but we suspect that they will not be based on the B3 stepping of the K10 silicon, but rather on the upcoming revision (the B4) that will offer enhanced overclocking options. As for the low-power Phenom 9100e, AMD is still working on improving its power efficiency over performance. The final stock core speed for the 9100e is still unknown.
AMD stated that it has decided to prioritize the launch of triple-core CPUs in the first quarter of 2008 because of the increased demand from its customers.