- log in
- join CNET
- welcome,
- my profile
- log out

AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3GHz)

Manufacturer: AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) Part number: HD9600WCGDBOX

Compare with most popular

$136.20 - $145.99 at 2 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.0 stars Good
Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 2 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: AMD's new Phenom quad-core CPU has little to recommend it over competing chips from Intel. The Phenom is marginally less-expensive, but not enough to make up for its subpar performance. Unless AMD drops prices more aggressively, it looks like Intel will maintain its grasp on the CPU market for the foreseeable future.
Read more

Where to buy

store customer rating inventory tax & shipping price

store	customer rating	inventory	tax & shipping	price
	Rate this store See store profile	In stock Try Free Amazon Prime for one Month	Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price	$136.20 Shop now as of 01/07/2009
Amazon.com Marketplace	Rate this store See store profile	In stock	$145.99 Shop now as of 01/06/2009
Click logo - complete selection of Components OCZ RAM $24* SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz (2 x 1024MB) 1.5TB Hard Drive $139 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Serial ATA 7200 32MB, SATA-3G OEM Video Card $99* XFX GeForce 9800 GT 512MB GDDR3, SLI Ready PCI Express, (Dual Link)

Rate this store
See store profile

In stock

Try Free Amazon Prime for one Month

Enter zip code to get total price:

Price

+Tax

+Shipping

=Total price

$136.20

Shop now

as of 01/07/2009

Amazon.com Marketplace

Rate this store
See store profile

In stock

$145.99

Shop now

as of 01/06/2009

Click logo - complete selection of Components

OCZ RAM
$24*
Product 1

SLI-Ready Dual Channel
4096MB PC6400 DDR2
800MHz (2 x 1024MB)

1.5TB Hard Drive
$139
Product 2

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
Serial ATA 7200
32MB, SATA-3G OEM

Video Card
$99*
Product 3

XFX GeForce 9800 GT
512MB GDDR3, SLI Ready
PCI Express, (Dual Link)

*Total price for the AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3GHz) are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.

show

CNET editors' review

AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3GHz)

price range: $136.20 - $145.99

Reviewed by: Rich Brown
Reviewed on: 12/10/2007
Released on: 11/19/2007

The good: "True" quad-core design handles data efficiently; cheaper than competing Intel quad-core chips.

The bad: Not fast enough to justify the price savings compared with Intel's chips; next-gen Intel quad core due out soon could further the performance gap.

The bottom line: AMD's new Phenom quad-core CPU has little to recommend it over competing chips from Intel. The Phenom is marginally less-expensive, but not enough to make up for its subpar performance. Unless AMD drops prices more aggressively, it looks like Intel will maintain its grasp on the CPU market for the foreseeable future.

Read full review

For raw performance, AMD's Athlon 64 X2 chips have lingered behind their Intel Core 2 Duo counterparts all year. Only aggressive pricing from AMD kept its old dual-core CPUs in systems and on store shelves. According to our testing, AMD will have to work similar magic with its new quad-core Phenom chips. If you want a quad-core PC now, and you can find a prebuilt PC that uses a Phenom 9600 for significantly less than a similar desktop with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, go for it. But unless you can find it for an exceptional price, we advise against the Phenom right now, because its performance simply isn't there.

AMD has made much of the fact that its Phenom is the first "true" quad-core CPU. Technically this is correct. While Intel's Core 2 Quad design basically melds two dual-core chips together, AMD's Phenom is the first to include four cores that all share at least one level of cache, in this case, the Level 3 cache. Similar to recent advances in 3D chip design, the Phenom's unified L3 cache provides a data store whose size changes depending on the amount of data coming through. Its flexibility ranges from pumping out one large chunk of data to a single core, or sending four smaller chunks across all four processors. In theory, that dynamic distribution of work should give Phenom an advantage over Intel's Core 2 design. The problem is that neither the size of the data chunks nor the speed at which Phenom can process them, give AMD's new chips enough of a boost.

The chart below gives the significant details as to how the Phenom 9600 and Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600 stack up against each other:

	AMD Phenom 9600	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Price	$270	$280
Clock speed	2.3GHz	2.4GHz
L2 Cache	2MB (4x512KB)	8MB (2x4MB)
L3 Cache	2MB	N/A

Our benchmarks tell the rest of the story.

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

559

AMD Phenom 9600

656

AMD Phenom 9500

684

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

167

AMD Phenom 9600

173

AMD Phenom 9500

181

Adobe Photoshop CS3 test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

157

AMD Phenom 9600

179

AMD Phenom 9500

184

Cinebench 10
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Rendering Multiple CPUs

Rendering Single CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

8,724

2,472

AMD Phenom 9600

7,359

1,942

AMD Phenom 9500

7,068

1,870

As you can see, on every single test, the Phenom chips fall behind their Core 2 Quad competitor. And considering prices right now, we don't think the $10 savings on the higher-end Phenom 9600 is worth the performance hit.

Over the next few months, AMD will expand its Phenom offerings to include two higher-end models, the Phenom 9700 at 2.4GHz, and the 9900 at 2.6GHz. We also expect that Intel will add to its Core 2 family by bringing its new, more heat- and power-efficient 45 nanometer design into mainstream dual-core and quad-core CPUs. Our test of the first of these new parts, the Core 2 Extreme QX9650, showed that Intel's new design makes a noticeable performance impact over Intel's older 65 nanometer parts. That doesn't bode well for AMD and the 65-nanometer Phenom, which can't overtake even Intel's current gen chips.

Despite all of that doom and gloom for the Phenom, its future could get brighter. AMD demonstrated with the Athlon 64 X2 that it is not afraid to cut prices to compete with Intel, which could improve the Phenom's bang-for-the-buck prospects. And if Intel reduces its prices in response, we could see some very inexpensive quad-core desktops on store shelves next year. You can already get a quad-core system for less than $1,000, and we've heard about new quad-core PCs coming out next year in the sub-$800 range. Do we hear sub-$700...?

AMD test bed configuration:
Windows Vista Ultimate; Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe motherboard; 2GB 1,066MHz Crucial Ballistix DDR2 SDRAM; 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 rpm hard drive; 512MB ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics card

Intel test bed configuration:
Windows Vista Ultimate; Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition X38 motherboard; 2GB 1,066MHz Crucial Ballistix DDR2 SDRAM; 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 rpm hard drive; 512MB ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics card

See pricing

show

User reviews

Write Review

Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 2 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 2 out of 2

Sort by:
7 stars

For best AMD performance right now, stick with Athlon X2 6400

by TheWake28 on January 1, 2008

Pros: Works with any AM2 socket on motherboards; AMD "true" quad core design may be a diamond in the rough, but can AMD utilize it?

Cons: BIOS patch to fix problem cripples some aspects of performance; Not as fast as Q600.

Summary: The main problem with Phenom is that there's nothing to recommend it over the Intel quad cores (unless you're going for a SPIDER platform). There is as of ...

Read more

Summary: The main problem with Phenom is that there's nothing to recommend it over the Intel quad cores (unless you're going for a SPIDER platform). There is as of now fairly significant proof to recommend an Intel quad core over Phenom, however: look at benchmarks.

The architecture is still behind Intel, and the fastest Phenom has a slower clock speed than the Q6600, Intel's slowest quad core. However, AMD is moving in the right direction.

Wait for a little bit. 3.0 Ghz and apparently much more OC-able Phenoms are coming.

Show less
7 stars

Better for Future

by lawstud on December 18, 2007

Pros: backwards compatible, better HD performance

Cons: 13-15% slower than Q6600 and 15% cheaper

Summary: If you already own a AMD motherboard you can basically use this chip without having to buy a whole new motherboard, ram, and possibly a video card.

The chip is

...

Read more

Summary: If you already own a AMD motherboard you can basically use this chip without having to buy a whole new motherboard, ram, and possibly a video card.

The chip is backwards compatible and the future AMD products will be too. Whereas Intel's new X38 top of the line board is not going to be backwards with their newer chips in 2009. In addition with "Crossfire" graphics you can have 4 graphic cards working together for some great gaming performance, and not have to worry about a new computer in 2-3 years that will not work with them.

For the person who can deal with a slightly lower cost and performance (HD and video encoding is faster than q6600) then this is the right chip.

The chips are not for the high end market. They are better for normal users who like the idea of not having to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.

Show less

0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

Showing opinion 1 to 2 out of 2

See pricing

show

Specifications

Manufacturer: AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)
Part number: HD9600WCGDBOX
Description: Realize new possibilities for connecting with friends, family, and digital entertainment with the phenomenal performance of the AMD Phenom X4 series quad-core processor. Built from the ground up for true quad-core performance, AMD Phenom X4 processors speed through advanced multitasking, critical business productivity, advanced visual design and modeling, serious gaming, and visually stunning digital media and entertainment.

General
Product Type Processor
Processor
Type AMD Phenom X4 9600
Multi-Core processor technology Quad-Core
64-bit processor Yes
Processor Qty 1
Processor number 9600
Processor socket Socket AM2+
Clock speed 2.3 GHz
Core voltage 1.1/1.15/1.2/1.25 V
Processor Manufacturing Process 65 nm
Processor / Thermal Specification 70 ?C
Architecture Features HyperTransport technology, AMD Virtualization, AMD Cool'n'Quiet Technology, Enhanced Virus Protection
Thermal Design Power 95 W
Cache Memory
Installed Size L2 - 4 x 512 KB - L3 cache - 2 MB
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free) None
Compatible Slots 1 x Processor - Socket AM2+

Miscellaneous
Included Accessories:Included Processor Accessories Cooler (fansink)
Package Type AMD Processor in a Box (PIB)
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & support type 3 years warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 3 years
Warranty
Service / Support Details Limited warranty 3 years

See pricing

show

Similar products

AMD Phenom 9500 (2.2GHz, OEM) $99.99 - $109.99
- CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
- Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review
AMD Phenom X4 9850 (2.5GHz) $147.99 - $187.35
- CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 4 reviews
Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition $1,011.80 - $1,103.71
- CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 8 reviews
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / 2.4 GHz processor $189.99 - $250.48
- CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 6 reviews
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 $393.50 - $465.89
- CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent
- Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 4 reviews

January 7, 2009

Shopper.com's Hot Holiday 100

Shop for products with rebates

Save big on tech bargains & deals

Shopper.com strives to provide the best price, review, user opinion, and product information on the AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3GHz). Shopper.com updates pricing for all products multiple times each day. If you find a price, link, product specification, review, user opinion, or any other error for the AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3GHz), please notify us through our support form.