AMD launched its Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and Phenom II X4 810 processors today and reviews are popping up all over the internet. I have rounded up all the ones I could find so far: Benchmark Reviews, Bjorn3D, HardOCP, HotHardware, InsideHW, ITreviewed, Lost Circuits, OverclockersClub, PC Perspective, TechAge, TweakTown:

The Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810 processors performed very well in multiple categories. According to their respective benchmark scores, both processors are competitive with similarly priced offerings from Intel, trading victories depending on the application being tested. Overall though, Intel still has the performance edge clock-for-clock and core-for-core. The X3 720 Black Edition, however, finished well out in front of even a higher-clocked 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo in multi-threaded applications, due to the X3's third processor core. Both the Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810 processors were also very good overclockers, and they were quite power friendly as well.

The X4 810 is a nice part which will make quite a few folks happy. It does not run really hot, it does not pull all that much power, and it certainly performs well considering the price it is at. In most tests, in comparing to previous results from the Phenom 9950, it was about 5% faster overall than its predecessor at that same speed. It does hold 2x the L3 cache as the 9950, and the extra internal tweaks are likely to help as well. Currently it is one of only a few chips that will fit in AM3 motherboards, so if a user who is adamant about buying an AM3 platform with a quad core CPU, they have no other choice but this processor. In the next few months we should see the higher performing parts be introduced on AM3, but that is not today. Luckily, these parts do fit in AM2+ boards, so if a user has one of these boards and is looking for a 45 nm part that is less expensive than the X4 940 Black Edition, and can be overclocked, then this might be a good candidate for them.

The real star of this show is the X3 720 BE. Overclocking this is a breeze, and its performance even at stock speeds is nothing to sneeze at. Once up at 3.5 GHz and beyond, the real fun starts. The X3 720 is probably the most interesting part that this release is seeing. The three cores, slightly lower power consumption, better overclocking performance, and the performance of 3 cores for less than the price of a competitive dual core from Intel. Triple cores still have not seen a lot of acceptance from users and OEMs alike, but this particular product might turn a few heads. In most of the single threaded applications, the X3 720 fared about as well as expected against the Core 2 part. The Core 2 still has an IPC advantage, and in this particular case the E8500 is also 366 MHz faster. If single threaded apps are all that will be running on a machine, then the extra money for a E8400 or E8500 might be warranted. If a user is starting to dip into more multi-threaded apps, then the triple core turns into a real beast. Consider also the easy overclock to 3.5 GHz and above, and the processor becomes a bit of a firebreather.

The flexibility of the AM3 platform, with its support for DDR2 and DDR3 memory types, is also a big plus. Existing owners of socket AM2+ plus motherboards looking to take advantage of AMD's latest processor offerings can rest assured that these new chips will plug right into their existing systems and just work, with no need to upgrade any other components. And new system builders, in the market for an affordable, high performing platform have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of motherboards and memory types, at multiple price points. If you want the best AMD has to offer, you've got the 790FX and DDR3; want to save a few bucks and there's always the 790GX (or other 7x0 series chipsets) and more affordable DDR2.