AMD has been a strong player in the desktop CPU marketplace since 2003 when they opened the development of their chipset. This enabled developers to create integrated graphics, like the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Series. Since AMD bought ATI, they have folded many of their graphics features into the chipset. As for processors, AMD has been busy pumping out quality processors, like the Phenom family of processors.

The Phenom processors are based on the K10 architecture. There are two series of Phenom processors in the market – the 8000 series made up of triple core processors and the 9000 series comprised of quad core processors.  AMD has moved away from naming their processors after their specific performance rating. The current models reflect a four digit number with the first number indicating the CPU’s family. This began with the Athlon X2 family of processors and should continue into the future. Some of the CPUs bear initials to further indicate the CPU’s family relationship, like the Phenom X4 Quad Core bearing the X4 9xxx moniker.

The Phenom X4 family of processors features quad K10 cores, while the X3 family features triple K10 cores. The Athlon family of processors makes up the X2 series and is based on the older K7 architecture. Athlons make up the dual core and single core processors provided by AMD. The Athlon processor has seen marked improvements since its first appearance in the market in 1999. The current Athlons boast integrated memory controllers, large L2 cache sizes and fast bus speeds. Let’s take a look at some of the current Phenom and Athlon processors.

The Phenom BE processors are labeled such since they are Black Edition processors, while the B stands for business class processors. A processor labeled with a little “e” means it’s an energy efficient model. The Phenom X4 family are all Quad Core processors that either utilize the B2 or B3 stepping in the processor’s architecture. The processors ending in “50” utilize the new B3 stepping, while the older B2 stepping models end with “00”.

The Phenom processors suffer from a high TDP. The CPUs range from 65 – 125 W TDP in the 9000 series and 95 W TDP across the board with the triple core 8000 series. The current Intel QX9770 Quad Core processor has a similar TDP to the best Quad Core offered by AMD – the 9900 model. Overall, AMD has some room for improvement, but they do offer CPUs with low TDP ratings. Those CPUs have a lower clock rate to reduce the wattage to the CPU, which results in a much lower TDP. It’s not the ideal solution, but one to get them where Intel has already been.