AMD Tri-Core processors try to fill the gap

A non existent gap that is.  These tri-core processors mainly exist for the AMD quad core processors that have a failed core off the assembly line.  They disable the failed core and re-badge it with a tri-core model.  AMD did not create these processors to be different, it was done to reduce expenses.  Instead of the failed processors being trashed and getting $0 for them, they disable the failed component and re-badge it to make up the difference.  Not bad in terms of a business strategy but the PC community begs to differ.  Looking at the benchmarks over at Toms Hardware that compares the AMD Phenom X3 8750 to a similarly priced Intel Core 2 Duo E6550, it doesn’t do all that well except in some multi-threaded applications.  Even with some of those the performance looks grim.

The quad core AMD Phenom counterparts can’t keep up with Intel’s latest quad core’s which is a serious drawback in this cutthroat industry.  If AMD can revamp these processors(later revision) and tune the performance for a Q2 release then maybe we can have some serious competition for Intel.  In the mean time, AMD’s only defense for market share is to cut their prices dramatically compared to Intel’s CPU’s.  These new processors from AMD kind of remind me of the 5 cylinder engines from Volvo, they took a different engineering approach.  But in Volvo’s case they don’t have to considerably reduce the price to compete with other manufacturer’s V6 models.