phenom 9850 review

[cdawall]

http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_phenom9850/

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AND FINALLY WITH AN OC on the 9850!

it equals a yorkie 9650 also @ 3.2ghz!

http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_phenom9850/32-3dmark.gif

The initial samples we had of the Phenom, that is, the (never released) 9900 and the 9600 Black Edition had some halfway decent headroom but, at least the specimens that found their way into our lab were somewhat unwilling to break the 3 GHz barrier. There is no need to stress any of this, samples are samples and every CPU, especially when it comes to early samples, behaves somewhat differently. The X4 9850 clocked... and clocked .. and clocked.. not always stable but we managed to POST at 3.4GHz using the stock cooler and increasing the core voltage to 1.4V. At 3.3GHz we got into Windows, albeit there was not enough stability to get through all stress tests.

At 3.2 GHz, the X4 9850 was genuinely stable, finishing any stress test we threw at it, from rendering to 3DMark'06 and that is what we want to show as the final figure in this article. No... no need to worry, we won't bother with another CPU-Z screenshot, instead we have the CPU score of 3DMark'06 achieved with the standard air cooler and running at 1.4V core voltage at 3.2 GHz.


i must say it holds its own @ 2.5ghz and hauls ass @ 3.2ghz

[jbunch07]

thanks man this is a really in depth review!
looks like ill be gettin one : )

[nflesher87]

any idea on price yet? I have a contact for a 9750 B3 if anyone's interested

[ShadowFold]

They're 230$ on newegg.

[zaqwsx]

They got all of them on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2+50001028+40000343+1051733662&Configurator=&Subcategory=343&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

[eidairaman1]

lets just hope with every Stepping the CPUs get better and better, i want to see what a Tricore with B3 stepping or higher can do

[cdawall]

the tricores are B2 stepping chips so i'm not that sure they will do all that well...

[InnocentCriminal]

Hmmm.... interesting stuff. Good t'see a high-end Phenom finally. I'll be looking out for other reviews and comparisons just so I can compare and contrast stuff.

[jbunch07]

i wanna see a review with this thing oc'ed to like 3.0ghz or above

[trog100]

its all about max clock speed.. i have seen other reviews showing them maxing out about 2.9 gig or less.. but they are getting better..

trog

[jbunch07]

its all about max clock speed.. i have seen other reviews showing them maxing out about 2.9 gig or less.. but they are getting better..

trog

troy from extremesystems got his at 3.2 i believe

[cdawall]

they need to release a native 3ghz chip

[jbunch07]

they need to release a native 3ghz chip

i agree!

[cdawall]

i agree!

i give it 2-3months and we will see some 3.2ghz+ chips released

[jbunch07]

i give it 2-3months and we will see some 3.2ghz+ chips released

that be so nice!
then i could get one to go with a 4870X2

[eidairaman1]

they need to release a native 3ghz chip

what they need to do is go back to the day that Clock speed isnt everything

[WarEagleAU]

They have, thats why they havent really busted out many 3.0ghz + chips. I mean you got the x2 6400 and such, but they arent trying to compete with intel with top clocks. They go more on a clock per clock deal. I tell you, a 3.0ghz quad will shut alot of you and other naysayers up (not naming any names mind you :p). Personally, Id like them to change up the architecture some. Take what they know they do well, throw out what doesnt and add some new things. IF intel can do it, surely AMD Can.

[cdawall]

they must have changed something with the B3 phenoms becaus the review said @ 3.2ghz it was dead even with a 3.2ghz C2Q

[gOJDO]

The B3 Phenoms are better for OC-ing than the B2's, but not enough good to make me wish one. Anyway it is good when things are getting better for AMD. I wish their 45nm to arrive sooner and I hope they improve something on K10. Else there would be no cheap Nehalem for me. :o

i give it 2-3years and we will see some 3.2ghz+ chips releasedFixed the typo for you ;)

[cdawall]

i doubt it will take anywhere near that long if they are already clocking that high on multis alone which would mean AMD just needs to rebin the chips

[WarEagleAU]

Yeah, rebin and then with the 45 nm, new architecture :D

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

aha! but its too late! muahhahahahahaha

[gOJDO]

i doubt it will take anywhere near that long if they are already clocking that high on multis alone which would mean AMD just needs to rebin the chipsSorry, but the highest clocked Phenom for this year on the AMD roadmap is the 9950 2.6GHz 140W TDP. It should be released at the end of the year.

Anyway I wonder why are you so sure that AMD can magically release 3.2GHz+ quads over night?
After the release of the first 90nm SOI2 K8(Winchester) in 2004, AMD needed 3 years to release a 3.2GHz 90nm CPU(Windsor 6400+) in 2007.
AMD are producing 65nm CPUs for 1.5 years and so far we have seen only 2.6GHz K8. Why should we expect much higher frequencies from a CPU with 3 times more complex logic?

AMD needed half year to push the frequencies of Phenom from 2.3GHz to 2.5GHz. Why should we expect them to boost the frequency for more than 700MHz for 2 months? By the statistics and by the "law of diminishing results", the further frequency improvement will take more time and will result with lower clock bumps. Such dramatic clock bump(over 30%) for a relatively very short period of time has never happened in the whole semiconductor history. Why should we expect Phenom and 65nm IBM/AMD SOI3 to change that?

On the other hand, you can't forget the fact that Phenom at 2.4GHz is really really hot chip and is causing a lot of difficulties to many boards. Only high-end boards can run Phenom 9850. The power consumption/heat dissipation of a +3.2GHz Phenom will be at least 30% higher if the vCPU is the same as of 9850.

And there are tens(if not hundreds) more reasons why we should stop dreaming about uber-clocked Phenom. On the first AMD roadmaps for 2007, there was a 2.9GHz Phenom. AMD changed their roadmaps for reason and currently on their roadmap the highest clocked Phenom is 2.6GHz. Let's hope that it will OC better and that AMD will deliver it on time.

[eidairaman1]

dude SOI is Silicon on Insulator, also there are certain Boards with the NF5 chipset that can run the Phenoms,

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=149

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_type.php?fMTYPE=Socket+AM2

I believe a few gigabyte models are the same too

[suraswami]

They have, thats why they havent really busted out many 3.0ghz + chips. I mean you got the x2 6400 and such, but they arent trying to compete with intel with top clocks. They go more on a clock per clock deal. I tell you, a 3.0ghz quad will shut alot of you and other naysayers up (not naming any names mind you :p). Personally, Id like them to change up the architecture some. Take what they know they do well, throw out what doesnt and add some new things. IF intel can do it, surely AMD Can.

Well said Eagle. Good :slap:

[suraswami]

i wanna see a review with this thing oc'ed to like 3.0ghz or above

Thats the suspense of this movie:D. Get your tickets and you will see the climax.

[jbunch07]

Thats the suspense of this movie:D. Get your tickets and you will see the climax.

:wtf: weird analogy but ok :)

[jkatt12]

amd phenom 9850
geforce 9800gx2
g.skill 8gb ddr2 800 pc2 6400
asus m2n32 sli deluxe (guess this is a low end mb but does support this cpu)
air cooled

just posting the score @ default settngs, if anyone wants to know, will try oc l8r in the day.

comments & insults welcomed! yes thats my g35 in the background, upgrading to a g37 l8r
this year too. :)

[gOJDO]

dude SOI is Silicon on Insulator,LOL :toast:

also there are certain Boards with the NF5 chipset that can run the Phenoms,

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=149

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_type.php?fMTYPE=Socket+AM2

I believe a few gigabyte models are the same too
Yeah I know, but I wasn't talking about Phenoms at all. I was talking about the high TDP like the 9850 and the future 9950. These are Netburst-like space heaters and like Netburst "extreme" and "performance" CPUS can cause MOSFET failure on many boards. "Phenom supported" board does not mean that the board is designed for all Phenom CPUs. People should be careful when choosing a board for the above mentioned models and should check in the CPU support list if their exact CPU model is supported. Many boards(like all the 780G based mainboards with a few exceptions) are not supporting 125W or higher TDP CPUs.
This also means that for OC-ing people should choose a decent board.

[jkatt12]

my first setup (original mb still) was w/ a 9500+, 6400+. 8800gtx,ultra, gx2. (the ultra is on ebay right now) :) xfx xxx edition @ 675mhz core.

[ShadowFold]

Hows the 6400+ compare with the 9850 :)

[jkatt12]

accessing windows and apps on the 6400 seemed slower, also booting into windows was/seemed slower, games ran a whole lot better on it tho than the 9500. (yes i know why -trg)

just installed the 9850 yesterday but have yet to play any games, bootup seems faster
than the other 2 so far. (at work right now, so cant really test games yet)

[ShadowFold]

Thats cool. Im gonna pick up a X3 if I cant afford a X4 by the times the X3's come out. They should OC better too so im gonna wait for reviews :)

[cdawall]

Sorry, but the highest clocked Phenom for this year on the AMD roadmap is the 9950 2.6GHz 140W TDP. It should be released at the end of the year.

Anyway I wonder why are you so sure that AMD can magically release 3.2GHz+ quads over night?
After the release of the first 90nm SOI2 K8(Winchester) in 2004, AMD needed 3 years to release a 3.2GHz 90nm CPU(Windsor 6400+) in 2007.
AMD are producing 65nm CPUs for 1.5 years and so far we have seen only 2.6GHz K8. Why should we expect much higher frequencies from a CPU with 3 times more complex logic?

AMD needed half year to push the frequencies of Phenom from 2.3GHz to 2.5GHz. Why should we expect them to boost the frequency for more than 700MHz for 2 months? By the statistics and by the "law of diminishing results", the further frequency improvement will take more time and will result with lower clock bumps. Such dramatic clock bump(over 30%) for a relatively very short period of time has never happened in the whole semiconductor history. Why should we expect Phenom and 65nm IBM/AMD SOI3 to change that?

On the other hand, you can't forget the fact that Phenom at 2.4GHz is really really hot chip and is causing a lot of difficulties to many boards. Only high-end boards can run Phenom 9850. The power consumption/heat dissipation of a +3.2GHz Phenom will be at least 30% higher if the vCPU is the same as of 9850.

And there are tens(if not hundreds) more reasons why we should stop dreaming about uber-clocked Phenom. On the first AMD roadmaps for 2007, there was a 2.9GHz Phenom. AMD changed their roadmaps for reason and currently on their roadmap the highest clocked Phenom is 2.6GHz. Let's hope that it will OC better and that AMD will deliver it on time.

if it were to clock like the one in the review ie. 3.2ghz took 1.4v it would only take 218w to power the cpu this is only 30-40w higher than what it takes to get a 6400+ up to 3.6ghz or so which means its well within AMDs reach with some good chips to get that down to 1.35v or so which would put it 183w which is capable on any good AM2 mobo

[jkatt12]

oc'd @ 2.7 hit 14k 3dmk06

[jbunch07]

oc'd @ 2.7 hit 14k 3dmk06

wow thats a nice improvement considering the card wasn't clocked much higher

[suraswami]

:wtf: weird analogy but ok :)

Ok I will put it like this.

Until you take that hot girl to b.. you don't know how the climax is!

That sounds good? You want to change it:D

[jbunch07]

Ok I will put it like this.

Until you take that hot girl to b.. you don't know how the climax is!

That sounds good? You want to change it:D

lol i love that one...now your talking my language :rockout:
btw that could be sig worthy right there :laugh:

[topdog]

jkatt12 great score there
what BIOS revision have you got running that 9850 as I have the same M2N32 SLI board and going to upgrade soon

[jkatt12]

1603 going to upgrade to when the crossfire 2 is out.

[cdawall]

$150 for the 9850 would be amazing :p

[jbunch07]

$150 for the 9850 would be amazing :p

it would!
id be happy to see $199 tbh

[eidairaman1]

The q6600 is about to see a price drop of $42. Im afraid even the 9850 still struggles to compete. Hopefully AMD also drop the price of the 9850. Might still be able to salvage something from this series.

http://i25.tinypic.com/5b78s5.gif

Lets see, AMD was prepared to the extent the Pheoms Would not Compete for Highest Performing Chip, but this is a far better release than 00 line of CPUs.

[ShadowFold]

That chart is inaccurate. Its old and the prices on them are wrong for current chips.

[jkatt12]

14,428 and climbing. :)

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Id like to see what I get at 3.6Ghz with that GX2.

[DOM]

troy got 3.5GHz out of his 9850 ;)

need to look for the link


here it is Could B3 Phenom be the rebirth of AMD....+1000MHZ OC done! (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=183025)


AND FINALLY WITH AN OC on the 9850!

it equals a yorkie 9650 also @ 3.2ghz!

http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_phenom9850/32-3dmark.gif


i must say it holds its own @ 2.5ghz and hauls ass @ 3.2ghz

Mine at 3.2GHz (http://img.techpowerup.org/080420/3dm06 cpu@3.2.jpg) :rolleyes:

[jbunch07]

helll yea!
3.5ghz!!!
im so gettin this B/A
AMD ftw!

[eidairaman1]

nice overclock, but remember CPUs are like box of chocolates you don't know what ya gonna get out of them.