AMD Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition - Phenom X3 Toliman Triple-Core 2.4 GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Processor - HD875ZWCGHBOX

Pros: Very good overclocker; with my not so competitive setup (Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe, 4 GB Kingston Value Ram - PC-6400, GeForce 9600 GT), I was able to push it to 2913.43 MHz by changing only the multiplier to 14.5. The core voltage was at stock, and I do not like playing with it. Replaced an x2 5000+ OC to 3014 MHz, and the registered temp.s with my previous CPU was room temp + 19-20 degrees with Zerotherm BTF 92 OC edition cooler. With this one, the idle temps are room temp + 13-15 when OCd! The highest temps seen with this processor was 46 degrees, compared to x2 5000+'s 52-53, at room temps of 23 when running Prime95 under constant full load. This thermal behavior is amazing...
Probably with an SB750 chipset MB, this may even go higher up to 3.2GHz range.

Cons: None from the processor, but from the Windows Vista (or XP as well as Google reveals!) itself. As soon as I upgrade the processor, and boot up into Vista, I received "Digital Cable device application registration Stopped Working" error, repeatedly every couple of minutes. When I Googled, it turned out to be a flaw of the Windows itself but not the processor, and solution was easy...

Overall Review: As one of the reviewers pointed out, I do not think there are many applications benefiting from four cores, but the triple core; aside from WMV (go figure). The facts with Everest are;
- CPU Queen= x2 5000+ 9094 vs. x3 8750 11292 (+24%)
- CPU Photoworxx= x2 5000+ 7363 vs x3 8750 13414 (+82%)
- CPU Zlib= x2 5000+ 29104 vs. x3 8750 48302 (+66%)
- CPU AES= x2 5000+ 6708 vs. x3 8750 12056 (+80%)
- Futuremark Virtualmark= x2 5000+ 8700 vs. x3 8750 9900 (+14%)
When x2 5000+ OCd to 3.0GHz vs x3 8750 OCd to 2.9GHz;
- CPU Queen= 10466 vs. 13654 (+30%)
- CPU Photoworxx= 7835 vs. 14162 (+81%)
- CPU Zlib= 33970 vs. 58192 (+71%)
- CPU AES= 7732 vs. 14415 (+86%)
- Futuremark Virtualmark= 9800 vs. 11100 (+13%)
Even at this current state, this CPU blows the streamline Intel dual core processors and combining the power with the latest SB750 MB, OCable RAM and HD4XXX graphics card will definitely give the user a straight winner! Until AMD releases its next gen quadcores, it is a very good se

Pros: 1. Price/performance
2. Fairly low-power (95W) for triple core, especially during idle
3. Fast free shipping from Newegg

Cons: The Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition (HD875ZWCGHBOX) I received from Newegg was a bit strange.

1. the CPU had smudges (like it was used) but the box and AMD hologram stickers on the box were intact.

2. the model number printed on the CPU was HD875ZWCJ3BGH (OEM/Tray), instead of HD875ZWCGHBOX (Retail).

3. the year printed on the CPU is 2006, but this CPU was introduced in 2008.

Overall Review: If the retail box I received says "OPN: HD875ZWCGHBOX", why would the CPU inside the box have "HD875ZWCJ3BGH" printed on it? If I accidentally received a used CPU, why is the box seemingly intact?