Chip vendor renews its battle with Intel by releasing the new Phenom X3 8000 series processor.

Struggling chip manufacturer AMD has stepped up to the plate once more with the release of what is the world’s first triple-core processor in the Phenom X3 8000-series CPU family.

Although it hasn’t been an easy birth for AMD’s new creation, the company is bullish about its future as multi-core processors become the main game.

"In 2007, AMD committed to delivering AMD Phenom triple-core processors in Q1 2008 and today the company makes good on that promise," said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, strategic marketing, AMD.  "AMD understands that today's PC applications are best accelerated with a range of 
multi-core products from quad- to triple- to dual-core processors, and that's why we now deliver the broadest multi-core desktop lineup in the industry."

The family begins with the Phenom X3 8400 clocking at 2.1GHz and the X3 8600 at 2.3GHz however details beyond this are sketchy and AMD has yet to release pricing details.

The company expects the X3 8000-series to released to OEM and system builders first using AMD’s 780G chipset.

Multi-core processors have been the flavour with CPU manufacturers after they found that clock speeds towards 4GHz were impossible to achieve on a commercial basis with existing technology.

While two- and four-core CPUs are now common place, this is the first tri-core processor to hit the market however for AMD to regain lost market share, pricing will need to be finely set to ensure its margins are enough to turn a profit but low enough to entice consumers away from Intel’s popular Core 2 Duo CPUs.

The Phenom processor has struggled to reach market after AMD discovered a bug that caused the Phenom X4 quad-core processor to crash. The bug caused delays to the X3 8000-series that was expected to have been released earlier in 2008.

Four new Phenom X4 quad-core CPUs

AMD has taken advantage of the X3 8000-series’ release to also begin shipping of the corrected X4 processors in a batch of four new quad-core CPUs.

The new chips include the Phenom X4 9550 and 9650 clocking in at 2.2GHz and 2.3GHz. Beyond that, AMD has also released a 2.4GHz Phenom X4 9750 and 2.5GHz Phenom X4 9850 chips.

All four quad-core CPUs are now available according to AMD.

Prices start at $US209 for the Phenom X4 9550 but only rise to $239 for the “Black Label” Phenom X4 9850, although this price is only effective from April 7.

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