AMD Phenom 9650 vs AMD Phenom X3 8750

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD Phenom 9650 and the AMD Phenom X3 8750 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD Phenom 9650 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the AMD Phenom X3 8750 has 3 cores and 3 threads. The extra cores of the AMD Phenom 9650 help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 2.3 GHz and 2.4 GHz.

Platform, power and price

Both chips use the AM2+ socket, so they fit the same motherboards. You can swap one for the other without changing the board.

Rated power is 95 W for the first and 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the AMD Phenom 9650 cost $176 and the AMD Phenom X3 8750 $104, which gives 4.0 and 6.7 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the AMD Phenom 9650 can feed a card up to the Radeon R9 380 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD Phenom X3 8750 reaches the Radeon R9 380. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD Phenom 9650 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the AMD Phenom X3 8750 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.