AMD's Phenom II CPU goes on sale online in a curious, quiet fashion

Uh, AMD? We know most of your staffers are probably throwing back a glass of Egg Nog right about now, but you might want to get out something akin to a simple press release acknowledging the release of your dual-core Phenom II processor. For those keeping track, we've now seen the CPU announced via an outlet other than AMD, purchased by a normal citizen without access to AMD's labs and now, for sale on the world wide web. Word has it that the units will start shipping on December 27th, which will probably be prior to an actual confession of their existence in the retail channel by AMD. Not that we're complaining about the distinctly different than usual approach here, but our heads are certainly spinning.

[Via PC World]

[argggg @ Dec 26th 2008 8:38AM]

Those are quad cores, not dual cores.

[AMD_TechSupportGuy @ Dec 26th 2008 8:46AM]

Wtf are you talking about? The article doesn't say dual core, and there is a quad core tag....

[Chase @ Dec 26th 2008 9:28AM]

Whats up retard? Take a look at this:

"...We know most of your staffers are probably throwing back a glass of Egg Nog right about now, but you might want to get out something akin to a simple press release acknowledging the release of your dual-core Phenom II processor."

Pwnd!

[Marko @ Dec 26th 2008 9:30AM]

@AMD_TechSupportGuy
"akin to a simple press release acknowledging the release of your __dual-core___ Phenom II processor. "

[refriedbeans19 @ Dec 26th 2008 9:41AM]

Omg, you're kidding me...

[thethirdmoose @ Dec 26th 2008 12:34PM]

THAT'S NO MOON!

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 27th 2008 11:17PM]

http://www.google.com/products?q=HDZ940XCGIBOX&oe=utf-8&scoring=p

[AMD_TechSupportGuy @ Dec 26th 2008 8:44AM]

(I work at AMD, but this is not "official"... I am just a cog):

The explanation is simple. A press release and mass commercialization equals an influx of new customers. While this may seem good on the surface, consider the TLB bug. If less people, who are more "techy", purchase a (potentially) bugged product, versus more people who are computer illiterate at best, we will discover any bugs quickly and with less mess (especially if a recall ever happened). After all, our main consumer right now is the enthusiast who will overclock it and will have the "know how" to find any bugs/issues and you would be surprised at the corners cut during quality control testing... :/

[AMD_TechSupportGuy @ Dec 26th 2008 8:49AM]

AMD's Tier 1 (supervisor) internal KB officially calls it a "phased rollout".

[susa @ Dec 26th 2008 10:19AM]

don't you think AMD should try to actually make some money first, by marketing and increasing market share? what about some special promotion tying the new processors in with an ATI 4850 for example.
Intel's just killing everything in site with Core2Duo and is gonna continue with i7. AMD need to build that name up - don't they want to make money or something???
The phased rollout reasoning is logical, but if you make a product for the larger general market, maybe a sacrifice in quality of the product may be allowed to pass unoticed - something like the equivalent of a toyota camry or honda accord

[Xenoterranos @ Dec 26th 2008 10:28AM]

In defense of Quality Control guys, sometimes you just have to make a list of everything you need to test, in order of most important to least important, and just keep on testing till you run out of time, money, or both. For something really complex, it can be a real challenge to test even 80% of just the likely scenarios!

[Bryant @ Dec 26th 2008 11:34AM]

Uh, AMD_TechSupportGuy

What you're saying goes 180° against what my numerous contacts at AMD told me.

[gadgetfanboy @ Dec 27th 2008 1:07PM]

Holy shit dude. Keep your company's internal stuff.. well.. internal.

I am a huge fan of AMD (although I buy both Intel and AMD kit), but seriously, you are not doing your company any favours by posting for your own ego. Especially talking about how much their QA cuts corners? I would imagine that some of the QA guys would like to see your post. Take it up with them, INTERNALLY, not here.

[Adderz @ Dec 26th 2008 8:47AM]

AMD make CPU's?

Of course i kid, but honestly, AMD today has almost zero market penetration. In Australia, the only brand name computers that contain AMD processors are budget desktops and notebooks.

I think the problem with AMD is marketing. Nobody knows them. The first question MOST people might ask would be "How does this compare to an Intel processor?" Im not a Neddy No-Nothing (lol) but i honestly have no idea about a SINGLE one of AMD's processors, Intel on the other hand, almost everyone can give you the basic rundown.

I really hope AMD pull something good out of their bag of tricks, it will be a sad day when AMD pulls out of the business....

[Mac @ Dec 26th 2008 9:16AM]

Hopefully IBM or HP buy them. In that case they will have another chance to live.

[superhobo @ Dec 26th 2008 8:55AM]

Australia != World

[zioncat @ Dec 26th 2008 9:00AM]

Seriously dude if you are posting comments on Engadget clearly you know all about AMD. There have been various articles thrtoughout the year with info regarding AMD and what they plan to do, but theres always some kind of delay or kickback. I love intel too but come on.

[bebop @ Dec 26th 2008 9:02AM]

You joke, surely. I agree that they don't have much presence on the high street any more, but anyone who builds there own rig, especially anyone interested in the price/performance, low power consumption systems is going to be reasonably familiar with the AMD lineup.

Phenom was late, buggy, and completely outclassed by Intel. But AMD still has cheap 780G mobo's fighting in their corner, and the 45W Athlon X2 CPUs... hopefully Phenom II will help turn the page on Phenom, and give them a reliable and competitive upper midrange part again. AMD Support Guy's comments, above, don't exactly fill me with confidence though.

[Ben @ Dec 26th 2008 9:04AM]

I work in computer sales.

I was mentioning AMD to customers as an alternative to Intel. I'll never forget some of the questions in reply:

"Do they make pentiums too?"
"Will it run my soundcard faster or slower?"
"Do they run windows xp or only vista?"

Not only have a lost faith in AMD's marketing and humanities chances of surviving the next couple of decades, but i have realized the best way of selling computers to people is to *NOT* tell them the specifications. But the difference is amazing: you mention intel to someone who knows little about computers and they instantly recognize the computer will be either fast, reliable, work on wireless or is infact and actual working computer and not some doppelganger .

The problem isn't that AMD is generation behind Intel in technology, or that they have a brand image problem. It's that they don't have a brand image!

Would it hurt them to stop being different for a second and do some mass media advertising.

[Kris120890 @ Dec 26th 2008 9:15AM]

These new Phenom II cpus are challenging the core 2 quad cpus at the top end and the core i7 920. Intels other two core i7 cpus are still ahead.

Two r three years ago AMD brought their athlon 64 out and they kicked intel arse good and proper leaving AMD n top for around a year or two and they were first to launch two core cpus. Intel brought out Core 2 cpus that fought with amd and then launched core 2 quad. AMD launched Phenom after months of delay and their performance were crap and were challenging intel but were good for the price after major price drops. To top it off they found a TLB bug in the hardware with the only way around was to use the bios on motherboards to cut a work around but that hit performance hard. They released more Phenoms with the TLB bug not in them but they were crap. The new Phenom II come with more than %50 performance increases but with a 50% drop in power usage.

A Long story but it shows that people wanted more out of AMD and they rushed out cpus to satisfy and made major bugger ups. But AMD are major in Europe and the states. They lost billions just because of that TLB in the first batch cpus and had to sell some of their Fabs. everybody who know about Cpus are waiting for AMD to make a comeback to bring price down again. They have the best and the most advanced chipsets in the world they just don't have cpus to match. Thats where The phenom II come in.

Intel are'nt so clean though. They have a TLB bug in the core i7 thats only partially fixed.

[Dummy00001 @ Dec 26th 2008 9:44AM]

@Adderz: "I think the problem with AMD is marketing."

You are probably stupid or living under rock.

Simply go to any price matching site. Select CPUs. You'll see immediately "Intel" and "AMD". After browsing for two more minutes you see the difference in price. After googling for half of minute you fetch piles of reviews Intel vs. AMD where simply jumping to "Conclusions" you would immediately see the differences between the two.

10 minutes is sufficient for anybody literate to find that AMD is great choice if performance isn't main objective but price/performance ratio is..

[GaderFaceNelson @ Dec 30th 2008 7:42PM]

I don't know about newer processors, been out of the loop for awhile. I do know that older amd processors spanked intel till they cried. I had a 2.4ghz p4 and a amd 2500+ stock the amd ran at 1.8ghz with a little tweaking the amd would run at 1.94ghz however I could run games and programs the pentium couldn't touch. I also find it funny that for games a higher end pentium is always required while a low end amd is ok. my current system in about a year old now, amd64 6500+ am2, thats a 3.2ghz proc for those who don't know or are curious, haven't seen one for sale in a while at newegg. I enjoy the cpu but the rest of my system needs major work... :(

[OddManOut @ Dec 27th 2008 12:49AM]

@Dummy00001

But very few computer/tech laymen will actually DO that. That's the whole point.
You say "Intel" to a random person on the street and all kind of things pop into their head. Idiots dancing around in blue heat resistant suits...a huge blue and white logo...the slogan "Intel Inside"...the annoying Dun-dun-Dun-DUN! chime...All kinds of stuff. You mention "AMD" and you can hear the breeze in the leaves and crickets chirping. The point is people think they KNOW SOMETHING about Intel...even it is just hype and marketing. And people tend to go with what they know...

The majority of car buyers don't have any idea how an engine works either. You're doing pretty good if they know how many cylinders their car has. And what's more, they don't do very much research before they BUY a car. So if you say "This car has a 2ZR engine in it, while this car has an LAP/I4, which do you want ?" they will likely be ambivalent. Until you mention that the 2ZR is made by Toyota, and the LAP is made by Chevy. Once you've capitalized on brand names that are a part of mass media/conciousness, ie on names they know without having to do research or technical study, you'll see the camps divide up pretty quickly based on marketing and reputation alone.

But first, you have to HAVE a reputation...

[Oli D @ Dec 26th 2008 5:09PM]

Intel = the loud, party-going self promoter, that guy you hate but have to pretend you like him because everyone else does.

AMD = the quiet guy who makes good conversation and doesn't big himself up too much, but gets shunned.

Australia = Discovered by the Dutch, abandoned, used for criminals by England.

[Adderz @ Dec 26th 2008 9:49AM]

@ Zioncat

Your right, i know little tid bits. The only recent Engadget/AMD article springs to mind was the one on the Bobcat...among other prototypes or delayed CPUS.

I know a few names of AMD's cpus, Athlon, Turion..and now Phenom...but i know nothing of them, how they compare to Intels offerings...or which is better than the other.

All i know is AMD died when Intel introduced Core and Core2.

You dont have to have the best product out their with the most features *cough* Apple *cough* but if you have good marketing you will succeed.

fyi, im not a MS fanboi, Apple fanboi actually, but they arent feature filled machines...i miss the 6 million USB ports built in and sd card slots...my $2000 iMac doesnt come with an sd slot...a $300 netbook does....

[James @ Dec 26th 2008 1:43PM]

"AMD died when Intel introduced Core and Core2"

Seriously? How long have you been around? AMD and intel have been playing leapfrog for the last 15 years. Did you think intel was dead two years ago? No? Why not?

The reason why AMD isn't going away is because the have a base of PC builders who know that when considering performance/price, often you will go with an AMD build (notice, I'm not saying always!).

To date I have yet to build a computer with an intel cpu. Until this year I haven't felt the need to consider it. Of course now is when brand loyalty is starting to kick in for me since I know little about intel chips other then their names/performance. Depending on this new Phenom chip, I might be building my first intel rig but I'm going to need to learn their mobos and corresponding ram and after market cooling...

And what's it with the whole Apple thing? Could that be why you don't know much about AMD? Because you own a mac?

And I'm not an expert but it sounds like you have a little buyers remorse. :)

[Oli D @ Dec 26th 2008 5:07PM]

Yeah i seem to remember it being AMD that forced Intel to embrace 64bit, and thank god they did!

I don't quite understand your logic in buying a PC -

Criteria
-More than 6 mllion USB ports
-SD card slot

Budget
-$2000

Why not just get a shiny brushed metal powered hub with multi card reader for $30?

[john @ Dec 26th 2008 10:10AM]

AMD doesn't have the money to spend on marketing. They're still king in the data center. If you compared the money available for R&D and Marketing Intel has 40 times the amount of cash on hand. As a stock owner I wish this wasnt the case. Hopefully they will make a rebound in the next few years.

[timw4mail @ Dec 26th 2008 10:49AM]

Agreed, AMD doesn't have the absurd marketing budget that Intel does. Of course, Intel also doesn't just concentrate on CPUs and crappy GPUs...

[Hotrod @ Dec 26th 2008 10:37AM]

So does the Phenom II have a more efficient architecture than the Phenom I?

I remember the days when a 2.2Ghz AMD chip would run circles around 3.2Ghz Intel chip. Conroe was the 1 hitter quiter for Intel.

[xValentine @ Dec 26th 2008 10:39AM]

Phenom II vs Core i7

Fight!

[Dave @ Dec 26th 2008 11:25AM]

Benchmarks where?

[Al Bundy @ Dec 26th 2008 12:54PM]

what on gods green earth will make them think that i would pay more for their slower and buggy cpu vs. the cheaper i7 920 which already outperforms it? sure the i7 boards are expensive now, but that is usually the case with a new socket.

[qwertymac @ Dec 26th 2008 2:01PM]

who said phenom 2 was buggy? besides, nehelems use 130w, phenom 2 uses 95, i think ill stick with phenom and my 780g mobo, cause the only chipsets that support i7 is x58, and those cost more then the cpu(920 at least). newegg has am3 baurds already! jetway am3 baurd($99) + $280(phenom 2 920?)=379, intel 920 + msi x58=$502, now is i7 REALLY worth an extra $120?

[Oli D @ Dec 26th 2008 5:03PM]

what socket do these use? AM2+

If so, when is AM3 coming out?

[Alexei @ Dec 27th 2008 3:49AM]

Long live AMD.

I plan on purchasing Phenom II for AM3 once it is readily available. As long as it can compete aptly with the Q9XXX series, I will be happy.

[superhobo @ Dec 28th 2008 3:19AM]

Benchmarks here:

http://www.gameware.ir/phenom2/benchmarks/

Now with a background!

"Since we published our "AMD Phenom II Benchmarks" yesterday, we've read some comments which were saying:
"That's All Fake, Guys! Blank-background pages with blue links can't ever show you the truth!!!".

So as a re-action, here we are in a non-blank-bg page! With some images which has been taken when we were benchmarking the AMD Phenom II CPU."

[lilricky @ Dec 28th 2008 9:42AM]

Wow, hey hobo, curious, how much technology can the average consumer get in Iran? I mean, how restrictive is the government about allowing consumer-grade electronics into the country? Are the prices sky-high? I guess its not too hard, considering you got the Phenom II before most people :)

[superhobo @ Dec 28th 2008 10:25AM]

Well, the thing is...I have no idea, I'm not Iranian. :p
Just found the site while googling, and that comment seemed funny.

[PeTroL42 @ Dec 28th 2008 3:20PM]

Adderz and OddManOut are right. I own an HP laptop with an AMD Turion X2 cpu. My brother in law asked me once if I have any problems with my laptop because he heard AMD procs have a tendecy to overheat. My partner that I do lighting with asked me if AMD is any good? I told them both that my computer runs great and its fast. I also told them that I have been using AMD for the last 10 years of my life and have never had a problem with AMD. My bro in law and my partner have been swamped with Intel marketing all their lives. They know nothing about AMD and how great it's processors are and are quick to judge AMD based on negative rumors. Sadly 90% of the population is like my bro in law and my partner.

I would like to add though that AMD is in alot of trouble if they don't bring out a proc that not only compares with Intel's Core2 line but gives it a good kick in the butt. The only time AMD started to gain market share is when their chips, Athlon XP and Opteron were kicking the snot out of Intel's Xeon and Pentium 4. Intel eventually caught up with the Core2 line and interest has waned for AMD. With AMD going fabless and having terrible management, I worry for them. Jerry Sanders and Atiq Raza were the ones that kick started AMD into the big leagues and Hector Ruiz is the man that sent them back to the minors. AMD surely can't survive on the enthusiast market alone.

As a consumer, I want my hard earned dollars going to something of value. Currently Intel has the best value to price ratio and if I were in the market today to upgrade, it would be Intel but lucky for AMD, I am not. By the time I need to upgrade, I hope AMD has turned its tide and start to offer better product. Although I have used AMD for the last 10 years of my life, I have no loyalty to them and I feel neither should anyone else. It's not our fault that AMD has had terrible management and they ran a once burgeoning company into a downward spiral. But I do feel that if AMD disappears, it'll be a sad sad day in the computer world. AMD keeps Intel on its toes.

[Tariq @ Jan 4th 2009 1:13PM]

AMD Forever ..
Intel for never
u peoples are sick , intel is fucking big fat cow .
that hurting so much from AMD :)
AMD is the only one who brought better and perfect solution every time
i know Phenom never fight lot against Core2 Series
but its Phenominal in other directions like X3 X4
NO one want Core2 Duo .. in same price of AMD Phenom X3 with suitable ATI Graphics
AMD doing right at the moment
AMD still alive coz AMD always right
AMD got big popularity with AMD Athlon 64
X2 are best and suitable Gaming Solution if u see the benches
AMD Phenom II 940 is a big smash for intel Core2 Quads and ideally for Corei7 940

[digi @ Jan 5th 2009 6:53PM]

Intel are also in court in lots of countrys.
they forced retailers to push there intel cpu's over AMD (or they would get no more stock or increased prices)
back room deals with HP,PB,Dell to use mostly INTEL including big retailers like PC World who also got busted because of it.
most of these court cases are now set for 2010.

but as usual Intel can do no wrong, AMD get a TLB bug which they were good enough to own up to (could have kept quiet about it as 99% of people would never have even seen it). Intel i7 has a TLB bug (probably from copying AMD's arcutecture from phenom 1 & A64) as i7 now has the same onboard memory controller that AMD has had for years (and which Intel said was wrong when AMD first introduced it, but now intel say smart people sometimes do the say things.) but Nobody seems to care about intels TLB bug.

[deltatux @ Jan 5th 2009 7:34PM]

Well, I saw a Phenom II 940 at my local computer store today ... I was like ... "am I seeing things or did that just say Phenom II?" and then I walked off and closed and opened my eyes and went back and there it was, a early release of Phenom II. Apparently, it's selling for CAD$ 384... then I was like forget about it...