AMD's intial Phenom release back in November of 2007 with the 9×00 series (9600/9700/9800/9900) B2 stepping processors was met with issues when TLB erratum problems surfaced and were plagued by benchmarks during testing and reviewing. While the TLB issue may have been a show stopper for enterprise/business customers if it were to spring up, it was more likely a non-issue for computer gamers and general home users. But AMD's latest processor 9×50 series prove to be just what the doctor ordered, with the new B3 stepping processors that are fixed at the silicon level and no longer have the TLB issue.

AMD has named the new series with what they are calling their '9×50 series' of processors. This makes things very easy for the consumer to identify the new cpu's when purchasing, and identifying the new B3 stepping processors from the initial 9×00 series. The four new AMD Phenom X4 processors that AMD is delivering are the 9550 (2.2GHz), 9650 (2.3GHz), 9750 (2.4GHz) and 9850 (2.5GHz).

The processor we are reviewing today is the AMD Phenom 9850 X4 Quad Core with the new B3 Stepping using the 65nm Silicon on Insulator process technology. This new processor is a 'Black Edition' and has the CPU/FSB multiplier unlocked for easier overclocking, but it has a nominal TDP of 125W making temperature control during overclocking very critical. We have also noticed that the 9850 processor has a faster 2.0GHz memory controller, making it unique versus the other '50 series' processors that retain the slower 1.8GHz memory controller.

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