Three-Core Phenom Chips Confirmed By AMD

AMD confirmed the addition of three-core processor, under the name of Phenom. The intersting and funny part of this story is the fact that the three-core processor will actually be a for-core processor with one chip disabled.

What does this the additional three-core Phenom mean? Potentially additional confusion for enthusiasts wanting to calculate the exact divisions of price and performance between AMD's various chips.

For consumers, however, it may create another mid-range value tier so that the distinctions between a high-end Phenom and a low-end single-core Athlon 64 aren't so great. Between Intel and AMD combined, the price disparity between a 3.0-GHz Intel quad-core QX6850 ($999) and a low-end single-core Athlon 64 3200+ ($48) is almost $1,000, noted Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced desktop marketing for AMD.

"If AMD is going to charge $400 to $500 for a quad-core chip, $200 for a single-core chip, they can charge $300 for a triple core…it's free money" assuming that the chips would otherwise be thrown out, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight64.