Like the superheroes of old, the AMD Phenom streaks out of the night to lay waste to your enemies. The 9850 has 4 cores that run at 2.5GHz. The quad-core Phenom processor has 128KB L1 and 512KB L2 caches for each core and a total of 2MB L3 cache to buffer really heavy data flows.
Memory transfers get faster than ever. HyperTransport Generation 3.0 mode allows up to 16.0GB/s of bandwidth. Add that to the 17.1GB/s from the integrated memory controller for an amazing 33.1GB/s of memory bandwidth. This unprecedented bus bandwidth is needed to feed the data hungry AMD64 with Direct Connect Architecture cores.
You'd think that all of this power could get too hot to handle. Think again. AMD's Cool'n'Quiet 2.0 works with CoolCore Technology to minimize heat while keeping power and efficiency up. Now the cores can shut down unused parts of the processor when not in use. This saves power and helps to reduce the amount of heat generated. This function is built in so there's no need for drivers or BIOS updates.
AMD64 Quad-core TechnologyAMD64 is designed to enable simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. With Quad-core technology, four complete processor cores on a single die run at the same frequency to deliver exceptional multi-tasking power, allowing users to surge through the most demanding processing loads, including advanced multitasking, critical business productivity, complicated visual design and modeling, serious gaming, and visually stunning digital media and entertainment.
HyperTransport 3.0 TechnologyHyperTransport 3.0 Technology (HT 3.0) is a high-speed, low latency, point-to-point link designed to increase communication speeds between integrated circuits in computers, servers, embedded systems, and networking and telecommunications equipment. With HT 3.0 technology the AMD Phenom 9850 processor enjoys 4000MHz system bus speeds.
AMD VirtualizationVirtualization on desktop computers allows a single PC to act like multiple virtual machines. AMD Virtualization can enable client computers to seamlessly support multiple operating environments. And it also helps make it easier for PC enthusiasts to upgrade and maintain their PCs through emulation.
AMD CoolCore TechnologyAMD CoolCore Technology reduces processor energy consumption by turning off unused parts of the processor. Power can be switched on or off within a single clock cycle so that energy is saved without compromising performance.
AMD Cool'n'Quiet 2.0 TechnologyAMD's Cool'n'Quiet 2.0 technology is an innovative solution available on AMD Athlon 64 processor-based systems that can effectively lower power consumption and enable a quieter-running system while delivering performance-on-demand.
Integrated DDR2 DRAM Memory ControllerThe AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-core processor is integrated with a DDR2 DRAM memory controller capable of supporting registered and ECC DRAM. The integrated memory controller changes the way the processor accesses main memory, resulting in increased bandwidth, reduced memory latencies, and enhanced processor performance.
Pros: Great value; this chip runs like a champ. O/C'ing to 2.9GHz was cake; it gets a little unstable at 3.0, but I know that to be a cooling issue on my part - I'd have no reservations buying this chip at all.
Cons: Newegg totally disappointed me with their shipping. Talk about awful! I understand that the processor is OEM, but when I received my order, the processor had come out of the plastic casing and had been bouncing around a sparsely padded cardboard box. An ENTIRE three rows of pins were bent because of this; it had to have been a miracle or divine intervention that none of them broke off throughout the beating it recieved. It took about an hour to straighten them all out. Really, Newegg, would a $00.01 piece of tape to secure the processor been all that hard? I seriously doubt I will ever go with an OEM processor from Newegg ever again after this.
Overall Review: I have never ever had a problem with Newegg before and have been buying here for years. Hopefully this was a fluke, but if you're debating between getting this and the retail version, I'd go with retail.