AMD Phenom X3 8850 vs AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)

Comparative analysis of AMD Phenom X3 8850 and AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W) processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Compatibility, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

AMD Phenom X3 8850

AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Phenom X3 8850

Around 32% lower typical power consumption: 95 Watt vs 125 Watt

Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt vs 125 Watt

Reasons to consider the AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)

Processor is unlocked, an unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking
1 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 3
Around 4% higher clock speed: 2.6 GHz vs 2.5 GHz
Around 33% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 33% more L2 cache; more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later

Unlocked	Unlocked vs Locked
Number of cores	4 vs 3
Maximum frequency	2.6 GHz vs 2.5 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core) vs 128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB (per core) vs 512 KB (per core)

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Phenom X3 8850
CPU 2: AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)

Name	AMD Phenom X3 8850	AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		318
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		1084
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		3.118
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		6.836
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.162
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		0.298
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		3.494

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Phenom X3 8850	AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE (125W)
Essentials
Architecture codename	Toliman	Agena
Launch date	October 2008	October 2008
Place in performance rating	not rated	3265
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	285 mm	285 mm
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	2048 KB (shared)	2048 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	65 nm
Maximum frequency	2.5 GHz	2.6 GHz
Number of cores	3	4
Transistor count	450 million	450 million
Unlocked
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	AM2+	AM2+
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt	125 Watt
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)