Conclusion:

AMD's Phenom triple core processors are in a bit of an unusual posistion. The highest-end triple core we reviewed is at a good price at $195 coming in under $200 but for nearly the same price one can pick up a Phenom 9550 which runs 200MHz slower but packs four cores. Though quad core still isn't heavily supported in games yet it is going to become the norm as dual core has and it will help a lot more to have an extra core than more MHz when it comes to multi-tasking. However, the 8450 at under $150 makes a lot of sense for those looking for a processor in that price range. Intel only has dual cores under the $220 mark and definitely no quad cores under $150 so there it makes more sense giving you an extra core. Though one could make the argument a higher-clocked dual core would be better in most games currently again we believe the trend will be this coming year and especially next year towards quad core support and thus triple cores. Combined with the 780G and you have an excellent value with a machine able to handle a heavy multi-tasking load.

Overall triple core is a good way for AMD to make use of all their dies and any where one core might not be working right or able to keep up with others in clockspeed while creating a new market segment. We believe it's probably worth it to save a few more bucks and go for quad core but if you are on a tight budget it allows one to bump up to three cores from two for a very reasonable price.

Score: 91%