Does anyone know if and when AMD plans on releasing the B3 version of the 9100e (9150e)? I'm curious because at 1.8ghz, it should be the cheapest priced quad-core out there (i'm thinking around $160), and should have the highest overclocking headroom of all the phenoms (up to 2.6 atleast?). I'm looking to build an affordable system geared for rendering and I think this would be a good, cheaper candidate vs. the q6600.

Also, I know that the 9100e is an OEM part, does this mean it's only accessible to system vendors like Dell/Acer/HP, or can we expect to see it in computer outlets like newegg, tigerdirect, ebay etc?

The Q6600 price is dropping to $225 next month, I think its worth the difference considering you can overclock it to 3.6GHz and it will be at least 50% faster than a Phenom @ 2.6GHz.

Yeah, I will definitely be keeping an eye out on the price drops.

also, it looks like 9100e may have been a paper launch, because it has since been removed from the price list: www.amd.com/pricing so 9150e is still uncertain

Q6600 is already $199 for retail box online at Microcenter

I read earlier it will be May or June for the 9150 and for the 8xxx series B3 parts. The first versions will only be B2 and go to OEM's. You wouldn't go wrong with a 9550 on a 780G board for a new renderer build. It won't be 65 watts, but what's the problem with 95? You're not building an HTPC after all. 2.2 gigahertz should be much better than 1.8 for what you want to do.

I don't think it will be at Newegg. AMD seems to want to keep errata parts out of the enthusiast pipeline. They'll go to OEM's. B3 parts will arrive, just be patient.

I do know how you feel, I got the 690V board in my sig because the 780G wasn't out yet. Now I have a 780G board just waiting for a 9850 in the middle of April. Let's hope AMD's delays are behind them and they get everything out on time, especially 45nm Deneb by December.

Was it ever on AMD's list? It was on lists at Anandtech and other review sites. The 8xxx series triple core B2 parts are already showing up in OEM announcements, and they aren't on AMD's price list for the retail launch either.

If someone's specifically interested in a 65 watt Phenom @ 1.8 instead of a 125 watt Phenom @ 2.5, why do you think they'd want a 125 watt Q6600 @ 2.4? You can't assume that everyone wants to overclock, especially if they want a 9150 for an HTPC or low power home system.

Me, I've read the 9850 overclocks stable on regular voltage to 2.8, so that sounds like where I'll aim when I get the CPU. The main reason I don't want a Q6600 is because I expect I'll be able to slap a 3.0 or 3.2 Deneb in the ASUS 780G motherboard come December.

I just Grabbed a G0 for $179 from Fry's!!!
Grabbed a Lucky Sale!

#1) The Q6600 @2.4 is 95watts not 125Watts.
#2) The Q6600 at 95watts is MAXIMUM usage not Typical Usage. If you downclocked it to 1.8Ghz, the power usage would drop.
#3) The Phenom @65watts is TYPICAL usage, not MAXIMUM usage.
#4) You don't need a Quad for an HTPC Low Power Home System. A Much cooler dual would be cheaper and work better.

What....??

Yeah, I've never heard that either. All of the sites I've seen say MAX TDP for the Phenom is 65W. Could you provide a link?

In the Past AMD measured TDP as MAX, but they "Redefined" their Definition of TDP for the Phenom since they determined that "Typical Usage" better reflected the power used by the Processor than showing a "Maximum" value.

http://www.dailytech.com/AMD%20The [...] le9955.htm

To see the "Measurements" in action, checkout this page.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] =3272&p=13

The Q6600/9550/9750 are all rated at 95w.
The Phenom Systems use 20-25 more watts at load.

This is true even though the AMD motherboards tend to use less power than Intel Motherboards due to the IMC. As a result, the actual difference in power usage between the CPUs themselves is likely a little more. However, this is not a big deal since in the real world the important fact is total power usage.

no processor uses its maximum wattage all of the time. old single core systems you could think in that way because it could only do one thing at a time. Now you have to run prime 95 to actually bring the processor up to maximum on all cores, or appropriate encoding applications. my entire system idles at 177w, and its no power saver. I'm waiting to build little data server box until the 9150e comes to market because i can put a giant heatsink on it and forget about it.

Thanks for the link. This is all confusing. I guess I'll just wait until real world power consumption tests come out. I'm still hopeful because I doubt I will be using it anywhere near max (I am using it for an HTPC, I really just want the faster HT link for the 780G. I would prefer a dual core, however the K10 duals seem to have disappeared). Anyway, since the 9100e's seem to be purely OEM I will probably just go with the 4850e (if it ever gets released, it seems to have disappeared as well).

LOL! Did you even read the OP?!

This suggests the OP is interested in overclocking. I am not assuming anything. You're the one putting words in my mouth. A Q6600 has a 95W TDP btw...

I suggest the Q6600 because we have no idea when the 9150e will be available, and it provides better price/performance after overclocking than any Phenom.

You get your super 3.2GHz Deneb chip in December (I like how you pull numbers out of your ass), a Q6600 @ 3.6GHz will still own it, and by then it'll be a 2 year old chip.

And seriously, no one gives a **** what you do plan to do with your 780G mobo (or your 690V mobo, or whatever else you have), there is no need to mention it in every damn thread!