HotHardware reviews AMD Phenom X4 9850 quad-core processor
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that AMD's initial Phenom processor launch didn't go exactly as planned. The first batch of retail-ready Phenom processors were clocked lower than expectations and in the days leading up to the launch, the now infamous TLB bug reared its ugly head. If you're not aware, all initial Phenom and Opteron quad-core processors based on the Barcelona architecture were plagued by an errata that could cause a system crash under certain circumstances. The errata involves the processor's translation lookaside buffer or "TLB" and L3 cache. Keep in mind, every processor has some sort of errata, but it usually isn't cause for concern, nor does it manifest itself in any real-world application performance. In many cases processor errata can be worked-around via BIOS or software patches and end users are none the wiser. With the Phenom's TLB errata though, working around the problem involved a significant performance penalty.
Obviously aware of the problem, AMD's engineers immediately went to work crafting a new revision of the native quad-core Phenom silicon that resolved the TLB errata. And today that new revision is ready. Quad-core Phenom processors based on the new B3 revision silicon should be hitting store shelves in the not too distant future. In addition to resolving the TLB bug, AMD is also unveiling some higher clocked Phenoms and tri-core and low-power models too...
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