AMD Phenom x3 8450: specs, review and reviews

One of the most interesting CPUs in terms of technical specifications in 2008 is AMD Phenom X3 8450. This chip was excellently optimized for multi-threaded software and had quite good overclocking potential. Among its other features, it is necessary to note the theoretical possibility of unlocking its unused computing unit and gaining a premium-class CPU at the expense of this manipulation.

CPU niche. To solve what problems its parameters will be enough

At the time of its release, AMD Phenom X3 8450 was positioned as a mid-range solution. The upper segment of the market was occupied by this manufacturer 4-nuclear models of the same name, which were directly opposed to Kor 2Kvad from Intel. In the middle segment, AMD did not have a worthy response to the more productive Kor 2 Duo. Among the budget decisions was the confrontation between the "Septrons" and "Athlons" (this is the decision of "AMD") on the one hand and the "Celerons" and "Pentiums" from Intel on the other.

To fill the gap, and these cut-down versions of flagship chips were released. Such processor solutions were excellent for optimized multi-threaded application support. Also this series of CPUs had excellent overclocking potential, which in some cases allowed to get a 30 percent increase in performance.

Equipment

Two types of configuration was in this tri-nuclear semiconductor crystal. A more modest of them consisted of a processor, warranty coupon, certificate of conformity, stickers for the front panel of the PC system unit with the logo of the installed CPU model and the manual for using the CPU. This level of equipment of this silicon solution was of the greatest interest for computer specialists and enthusiasts. In this case, it was possible to choose an improved modification of the CPU cooling system and, as a result, further increase its clock frequency. This ultimately led to a significant increase in productivity.

The second version of the bundle was called "boxed", in professional jargon - "box". In addition to all the previously listed, it also included a cooling system and a thermal paste. The complete cooler was designed to work in the nominal mode, and there was no overclocking possibility in this case. This option is more suitable for ordinary users who do not like to experiment with the characteristics of a personal computer.

Socket for this processor solution

"Fen X3 8450" was a universal chip that could be installed in both the AM2 + socket and the AM3 socket. In the first case, this chip could work with DDR2 memory. And AM3 supported only DDR3. Given the positioning of the processor solution, it was most optimal to use this chip in conjunction with the motherboards of the last standard.

Technological process

At the time of the release of the "Phenom X3 8450", the technological process was considered advanced, which complied with the tolerance standards of 65 nm. It was according to these requirements that a semiconductor crystal was made. Against the background of today's 14 nm, 65 nm is not impressive. It was the technological process that ultimately was the factor that contributed to the increased thermal package of this quad-core solution in comparison with its current counterparts.

Cache

The ambiguous situation was with the fast memory system integrated in the AMD Phenom X3 8450. The specifications indicated a three-level cache, and this was an undeniable advantage of this CPU model. But only its last level was very "small", even by the then standards - only 2 MB of total address space for instructions from the CPU and these programs.

The second level was already divided into 3 equal parts of 512 KB (in total we get 1.5 MB), which were tied to a specific computing module. The lower level was also divided into 3 equal parts of 128Kb. And in the latter case there was also a specialization regarding the type of stored information. Half of the first level cache (64 KB) stored the instructions of the central processing unit, and half - the data. The total volume of it was 192 KB.

Random Access Memory

As noted earlier, there were two types of random access memory - DDR2 and DDR3. The chip itself belonged to mid-level solutions. Because of this, it was preferable to use a more progressive type of RAM - DDR3. Also, in case of overclocking, you can get an additional increase in the performance of the computer system as a whole.

Heat and temperature conditions

The AMD Phenom X3 8450 processor boasted a thermal package of 95 watts. At the time of its appearance on the market this was an excellent value. Now, after the appearance of 14 nm processors of the latest generation with similar parameters and a thermal package of 65 W for a CPU with four computational modules (for example, "Cor 6500"), 95 W looks clearly overvalued.

The temperature alarm for this silicon solution was 70 degrees. In the overclocking mode in combination with the advanced cooling system and when the most demanding tasks were run on the CPU, the chip temperature could vary from 55 to 65 degrees. But in the normal mode of operation and with a complete cooler, this chip could be heated to a temperature of 45-50 degrees when performing similar tasks.

Frequencies

The nominal frequency in the AMD Phenom X3 8450 was 2.1 GHz. The multiplier of the central processing unit in this case was fixed at a value of 10.5. Therefore, the only parameter that allowed to increase the overall system performance by overclocking the CPU in this situation is the system bus frequency . To change the value of the latter by increasing the frequency of the clock generator. It is the increase in the last parameter that led to the overclocking of the CPU.

Architecture

This chip was one of the first processors, called TripleCore. AMD Phenom X3 8450, as noted earlier, included 3 computing modules based on the Tolimen architecture. And, unlike the current configuration of modern CPUs of this manufacturer, when 2 cores share resources, in this case all resources were separate for each block.

Accelerating and unlocking an unused compute module

With a high-quality motherboard and an improved cooling system, it was not difficult for the AMD Phenom X3 8450 to overclock up to 3 GHz. The overclocking needed to be done on a PC equipped with a very powerful power supply (from 650 W and more) and faster RAM DDR3 (motherboard with a processor socket "AM3" for computer enthusiasts).

The ambiguous situation in this case was with the blocked computational module on the CPU. In theory, this chip was based on the more advanced 4-nuclear model of this manufacturer. The last, the fourth module was blocked at the program level during the tests. That is, if there were any problems with any computational module, it simply turned off. With a "lucky" coincidence, it was possible to turn it back on and get back to the 4-core AMD Phenom X3 8450 processor solution.

Unlocking the 4 core could be performed only on some models of motherboards of manufacturers such as "AsRok" and "Biostar". To do this, it is enough in "BIOS" to include the ACC option ("Advance Klock Caliberishen"). In theory, this parameter allowed more aggressive increase in the frequency of the chip. But in practice, its activation sometimes led to the inclusion of an unused computing unit. The rest of the producers of this element functioned as expected. If it was possible to unlock the fourth module in this CPU, then only the two manufacturers listed earlier.

Opinions of the owners. Cost of the processor

The main drawback of this model of the CPU is a low nominal frequency of 2.1 GHz. Even at the time of this semiconductor solution, this value hardly allowed to solve the most demanding tasks. The solution to this problem was overclocking the chip. But at the same time, more serious requirements were imposed on the components of the computer system. This, in turn, led to a rise in the cost of PC.

Among the advantages can be noted relatively low cost of this model of the CPU. The second positive point is the high level of performance in applications optimized for multi-threaded hardware. In some cases, it could even be turned into a 4-core AMD Phenom X3 8450 model. Unlocking this module could only be performed on motherboards of the two manufacturers previously mentioned.

Results

With a competent approach, AMD Phenom X3 8450 could be theoretically turned into a premium-segment processor with a high frequency. But such a solution technically could only be realized by an advanced computer specialist. For ordinary users, more interest was represented by more advanced chips with a 4-nuclear configuration for the most demanding cases, or 2-block chips, while reducing the requirements for the hardware specifications of the PC.