AMD Phenom X4 9850 2.5GHz Socket AM2+

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 8 expert reviews

Excellent:

3
Good:

1
Average:

3
Bad:

1

Pros:

Re-establishes AMD as a competitor in the $150+ market.
Strong multi-threaded performance in certain tests compared to dual-core alternatives.
High clock speed.

Cons:

Pricey compared to the Q9300.
Poor overall bang for the buck at this price.

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Last revision on June 5, 2014

Reviewers Liked

Re-establishes AMD as a competitor in the $150+ market
Strong multi-threaded performance in certain tests compared to dual-core alternatives
High clock speed
6MB L2 cache
Fast in games
Unlocked multiplier allows overclocking
Required motherboard offers minor gaming benefit
Slightly faster MP3 encoding than Intel

Reviewers Didn't Like

Pricey compared to the Q9300
Poor overall bang for the buck at this price
Faster competing chip from Intel is also overclockable

Expert reviews and ratings

Still lagging behind the Core 2 Duos of Intel, AMD at least salvages a little pride with this...

By Atomic MPC on July 03, 2008

The success of the 9850 processor depends greatly on its price range. Phenom 9750 is priced at around 1.500DKK, a quick check on edbpriser.dk reveals (as of this writing). Therefore, my guess is that the price will be slightly under 2.000DKK, which...

By Tweak.dk on April 18, 2008

The new AMD Phenom X4 9850 goes beyond the original Phenom series, offering improved performance and best of all, the ability to easily upgrade for existing users of the AMD Socket AM2 platform. Although not as powerful as some of the new Intel CPUs...

By ImpulseGamer on April 15, 2008

Wed all feel a little better about AMDs current chips if it wasnt for the name.You call your processor Phenom and, frankly, people expect a phenomenon. When it isnt one, the sting is all the harsher. Its like finding out a guy called Steve...

By TechRadar on April 15, 2008

Without considering overclocking, AMD has improved the Phenom B3s and made quite a positive impact. The improved memory performance and corrected silicon is absolutely a step in the right direction, and what the Phenoms should have been launched as...

By Bit-tech.net on April 11, 2008

Intels Wolfdale CPU is highly overclockable, but the performance advantage over the Q9300 is surprisingly...

By ExtremeTech on April 09, 2008

AMDs new Phenom X4 9850 is overpriced and outclassed compared with its Intel-based quad-core competition. If PC vendors can use this chip to make cheap systems (as they did with older Phenoms), we might have nicer things to say, but as a DIY part at...

By cnet on March 26, 2008

The chart and the graph use geometrical mean results obtained in all tests. Weve noticed two things: firstly, Intel MKL has a positive effect not only on Phenom X4, but also on Phenom X3. To a much lesser degree, of course. But still, you get a 7%...

By iXBT Labs on September 24, 2008

Despite the not very high overclocking capability, the derogation to AMD Phenom processors, in our view, are unlikely to be justified. Although currently you wont be able setting new records with these processors, they may prove to be highly...

By Digital-Daily on September 05, 2008

Just 91 points. AMD Phenom X4 9850 performs on a par with Intel Core 2 Duo E6600. These words sound like a hammer nailing down a coffin lid: the top quad-core processor from AMD, launched in 2008, demonstrates average performance on the level with a...

By iXBT Labs on June 26, 2008

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