AMD announced as the world’s first true tri-core processor, Phenom X3, back in September of this year. The processor, which is basically a quad-core with one disabled core, is meant to fill the void between quad-cores and dual-cores. We can’t say that we’re experiencing that much of a void though, and the a poor yield of fully functional quad-cores is a more likely explanation. The multithreading performance of a tri-core has been questioned more than once and thanks to the people over at PCGamesHardware.de we now know a little more.
They’ve tested and compared an AMD Phenom X3 2.6 GHz to both Phenom X4 2.3 GHz, Phenom X2 2.3 GHz and an Intel Core 2 Q6600. The Cinebench, WinRAR and the 3DMark 06 CPU benchmarks all say the same thing. The Phenom X3 performs better than the Phenom X2 and worse than the Phenom. It’s actually pretty much right in the middle, who could’ve guessed?
