From a strict performance point of view the AMD Phenom X3 8750 CPU is not going to win any awards in most cases. From a platform point of view, AMD is announcing their new “Cartwheel” platform centered on Phenom CPUs and the 780G graphics platform which has the great HD3200 class graphics. This turns the argument on its head. A Phenom 8750 with a 780G motherboard would cost around $290 today. This will give you excellent integrated graphics with full compatibility across DirectX 10 titles, with nearly the performance of the HD3400 series discrete graphics. The competition in the form of the Intel E8400+Intel G35 chipset would run you around $300. In that vein the Phenom X3 8750 CPU makes for an interesting choice for the hardware enthusiast. Do you buy a Dual Core Intel CPU with a G35 motherboard with admittedly mediocre graphics performance and no official DX10 support? Or is the better choice to buy a similarly priced Triple Core+AMD Integrated graphics solution that gives slower CPU performance but higher gaming performance across the board with full DX10 support? The choice is pretty clear to me as a reviewer, I want to game.



Link: Motherboards