AMD updates Phenom timetable

Gathering steam

How is AMD's Phenom processor roll-out shaping up? According to the latest roadmap leak, expect three of the CPUs to appear this year, all of them in the 9000 series. Gamer-oriented FX parts won't debut until next year.

According to data compiled by VR-Zone, the 2.2GHz Phenom 9500 and the 2.4GHz Phenom 9600 will be launched in November, with the 2.6GHz 9700 following a month later. All three contain four 512KB L2 caches, one per core, and 2MB of L3 cached shared among all the cores. They all support 800MHz DDR 2 memory.

The lower end chips will consume up to 89W, the report reasonably reckons, and sit on 3.6GHz HyperTransport 3.0 buses via the Socket AM2+ interconnect. The 9700 ups the bus frequency to 4GHz, but its TDP comes to 125W.

Further 9000 series CPUs are roadmapped for a Q2 2008 launch, but the first Phenom FX part, the FX-82, will have already appeared by then, in Q1. Like the 9700, the FX-82 will sit on a Socket AM2+ connector and a HyperTransport bus running at 4GHz. It too will contain 2MB of L3 and 512KB of L2 for each of its four cores. Its clock speed has yet to be set, but it'll apparently be at least 2.6GHz. There's no word yet on TDP, but it's likely to be at least 125W.

We'd add AMD's upcoming three-core Phenoms to the list too, which the chip maker has already said will debut in Q1 2008. These are believed to be four-core parts with one core that's failed to make the grade, allowing AMD to offer them with a lower core quotient.