B3 Phenom - TLB Bugs still exist - New processor maybe the resolution

[Hellboy]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/CES-2008-AMD-039-s-B3-Stepping-Failed-to-Fix-The-TLB-Errata-75961.shtml

I posted this under the AMD Stubburn or Just Dumb section.....


I hate to bring the bad news to all AMD fans, me previously included.......


Heres one for Thunderman to retaliate to....


Looks like another mess up or failure.......


Oh well


I wont be buying any Phenoms soon..... better stick to the 6400 BE for the time being....


This AMD saga is becomming very boring now, it says that B4 will hopefully sort TLB bug and you wont get B3 until May 2008..

It also says the Phenom 9700 and 9900 have been delayed too.............

 

[LukeBird]

Pretty devastating if it is true, buuuuuuuut the article is dated 6 weeks ago...
Perhaps that was speculation before AMD did the press release for B3?

 

[Hellboy]

Pretty devastating if it is true, buuuuuuuut the article is dated 6 weeks ago...
Perhaps that was speculation before AMD did the press release for B3?

Hopefully it is but then again, AMD were not very honest about the TLB bug in the first place...

I just hooked up on something that said CES2008 and saw this.....

As CES2008 is only in March it hasnt got much time to get their act together....

Anyway B3 chips will be numbered with a 50 at the end so 9650, 9750 for example, so I am led to believe...

 

[Reynod]

Interesting how many users of E8400's have posted with stuck temp sensors at THG ... and how few have raised issues with Phenom's.

Sure it isn't as quick as a Q running at the same frequency - for most tasks.

I'd say based on posts the E8400 temp issue has become a disaster.

I'd say based on the phenom posts its mainly diehard Intel "trailer park techies".

lol

 

[randomizer]

Interesting how many users of E8400's have posted with stuck temp sensors at THG ... and how few have raised issues with Phenom's.

Not that interesting. The temp sensor issue is just a moot point that only affects the paranoid. Annoyingly, that is 98% of the population. They seem to think that they need to keep their CPU under 50C to make it last for more than a year or so. I don't know why people get so worried about their temps, if it's stable who cares how hot it is? If it was dangerously hot it would have throttled or shut down.

 

[Kari]

thats old 'news' and have proven to be just a rumour, TLB is indeed fixed in B3 and those CPUs will be launched in Q2 2008.

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7412.html

AMD roadmap for 2008
---
In Q2, we will also get to play with Phenom 9700 and 9900, and possibly even a third model which remains unnamed at this time. The Phenom 9500 and 9600 will be replaced by the 9550 and 9650, B3 stepping. Same goes for the lesser known energy efficient model 9100e, which will be replaced by the 9150e. And, there's absolutely no proof of the rumored overclocking stepping dubbed B4.

 

[yomamafor1]

Interesting how many users of E8400's have posted with stuck temp sensors at THG ... and how few have raised issues with Phenom's.

Sure it isn't as quick as a Q running at the same frequency - for most tasks.

I'd say based on posts the E8400 temp issue has become a disaster.

I'd say based on the phenom posts its mainly diehard Intel "trailer park techies".

lol

humm what about the flaky third core? :lol: I'm sure there's a lot more people complaining about that than... people who're complaining about TLB.

I'd say based on posts, E8400 temperature issue and Phenom's flaky third cores receive similar amount of complaints from its users.

 

[jkflipflop98]

thats old 'news' and have proven to be just a rumour, TLB is indeed fixed in B3 and those CPUs will be launched in Q2 2008.

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7412.html

AMD roadmap for 2008
---
In Q2, we will also get to play with Phenom 9700 and 9900, and possibly even a third model which remains unnamed at this time. The Phenom 9500 and 9600 will be replaced by the 9550 and 9650, B3 stepping. Same goes for the lesser known energy efficient model 9100e, which will be replaced by the 9150e. And, there's absolutely no proof of the rumored overclocking stepping dubbed B4.

Your link says nothing about the TLB bug.

 

[endyen]

humm what about the flaky third core? :lol: I'm sure there's a lot more people complaining about that than... people who're complaining about TLB.

I'd say based on posts, E8400 temperature issue and Phenom's flaky third cores receive similar amount of complaints from its users.

Yet together they have pushed the sale of salt to a new level.
My crystal ball isn't working, so I guess I'll just wait until Cebit to see what happens will B3.

 

[yipsl]

thats old 'news' and have proven to be just a rumour, TLB is indeed fixed in B3 and those CPUs will be launched in Q2 2008.

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7412.html

AMD roadmap for 2008
---
In Q2, we will also get to play with Phenom 9700 and 9900, and possibly even a third model which remains unnamed at this time. The Phenom 9500 and 9600 will be replaced by the 9550 and 9650, B3 stepping. Same goes for the lesser known energy efficient model 9100e, which will be replaced by the 9150e. And, there's absolutely no proof of the rumored overclocking stepping dubbed B4.

Hellboy loves to bash AMD, specifically over Phenom. I guess he and TC are disappointed ex fans who feel jilted on one hand and overexcited about their new company on the other. So, old news is better news if it can be spun negative.

As for the new spin on the B3, I don't care if the B3's delayed from April to May. If the French site isn't rumor mongering, then that's what a good company does when the first spin still has issues. AMD's investors should be happy that the company's getting product out that people want at the prices offered.

Me, I'm still likely to wait for 45nm, and maybe even Q1 2009 for AM3. CPU limited or not, I'm having fun with my old CPU and RAM, new budget mobo and very good 3870x2. I'd rather spend the money this spring on a 24" LCD.

humm what about the flaky third core? :lol: I'm sure there's a lot more people complaining about that than... people who're complaining about TLB.

I'd say based on posts, E8400 temperature issue and Phenom's flaky third cores receive similar amount of complaints from its users.

The Phenom logical core 2 issue has had very few reports and one amatuer test here at the forums. The Wolfie's temp sensors reports all come back to one thread at another forum. Though I think that both AMD and Intel sometimes have QA issues, I don't see either report as cause to flame the opposition. The Phenom's with bad cores were most likely meant to be binned as triple cores and got past QA. The Wolfies with bad sensors were probably a acerbated by overclockers using the wrong software with sensors that aren't really designed for overclocking info.

So, what about all the complaints? They make for good tinder in a flame war, but until Tom's or Anandtech really investigates these reports professionally, they're just Forum FUD.

 

[Kari]

Your link says nothing about the TLB bug.

well no, that one doesnt. How about this one then?
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7189.html

this one is more recent, but doesn't state it clearly but it implies it anyways
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7407.html

 

[LukeBird]

humm what about the flaky third core? :lol: I'm sure there's a lot more people complaining about that than... people who're complaining about TLB.

I'd say based on posts, E8400 temperature issue and Phenom's flaky third cores receive similar amount of complaints from its users.

But most of the complaints aren't from users are they?!

 

[yipsl]

well no, that one doesnt. How about this one then?
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7189.html

this one is more recent, but doesn't state it clearly but it implies it anyways
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7407.html

Well, the first one proves that FUD is hell. The second one is a bit unclear about one notion I had about triple cores: that there was a bad core issue leading AMD to create a market that really didn't exist. What had me wondering about the second article is why would they release B3 triple cores if there are no core issues or yield problems past B2?

Still, both AMD and Intel do this with yield problems for other CPU's, so it's not a problem for me, nor does it prove hellboy's point about AMD (or Thunderman's for that matter). Only the "Nigel from Spinal Tap" form of marketing works for triple cores vs. quad cores, if they had to disable a perfectly good quad to get a triple, it wouldn't be worth it for retail, but would work for clueless OEM shoppers at brick and morter stores.

 

[zenmaster]

Very Old Article that has been disproven.

 

[spongebob]

Very Old Article that has been disproven.

Has it? As a B3 been independantly reviewed? Rebuffed is not the same as disproven.

(please read this as a question, not disagreement)

 

[zenmaster]

Has it? As a B3 been independantly reviewed? Rebuffed is not the same as disproven.

(please read this as a question, not disagreement)

Not "Independently", but AMD knows how to create the problem, they were always aware of the problem.
They have also announced it's fixed and announced a a good release date.

99.9% of the AMD Fanboys on here think I'm an Intel Fanboy.
However, I just call it like I see it.

But in this case, I'm fairly certain its resolved.
However, that will not mean terribly much.
It will not fix other performance and heat issues the Phenom has.
Hopefully B3 will come with improvements beyond just the TLB errata which was more of an issue for their Server than Workstation Chips.

 

[bfellow]

Thank you for creating a thread yet again on an unfounded rumor. Maybe I will create a thread that said Core 2 Duo has launched.

 

[yomamafor1]

The Phenom logical core 2 issue has had very few reports and one amatuer test here at the forums. The Wolfie's temp sensors reports all come back to one thread at another forum. Though I think that both AMD and Intel sometimes have QA issues, I don't see either report as cause to flame the opposition. The Phenom's with bad cores were most likely meant to be binned as triple cores and got past QA. The Wolfies with bad sensors were probably a acerbated by overclockers using the wrong software with sensors that aren't really designed for overclocking info.

So, what about all the complaints? They make for good tinder in a flame war, but until Tom's or Anandtech really investigates these reports professionally, they're just Forum FUD.

There are actually two active users that encountered Phenom's core2 problem. While I really hate to bring that thread back to life, there are also others who reported the same thing on other forums (xtremesystem for instance).

Phenom's core2 and E8400's temperature has things in common:

1. Only reported under overclocking conditions (or when clock setting is tinkered)
2. Both may have been addressed in the published errata section, with fixes (at least Intel did)
3. Both may not be a hardware problem, but software problems (Overdrive vs. BIOS thermal interrupt value).

Now, as Caasma and I found, both problems also receive similar amount of hits when searched on Google. This is idiotic in nature though, so I wouldn't count this.

 

[yomamafor1]

But most of the complaints aren't from users are they?!

Actually they are.

 

[LukeBird]

Actually they are.

Actually, as you just proved above, they're not.
I don't want to argue (I'm fed up with it and tired! ) but you just said owners have reported it.
How many other people on here are saying they know someone who knows someone that has encountered it.
I'm not talking about it (or the E8400 'problem', for that matter) because I own neither and can't prove either way.

 

[yomamafor1]

Actually, as you just proved above, they're not.
I don't want to argue (I'm fed up with it and tired! ) but you just said owners have reported it.
How many other people on here are saying they know someone who knows someone that has encountered it.
I'm not talking about it (or the E8400 'problem', for that matter) because I own neither and can't prove either way.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248265-28-phenom-exposed-shipping-flaky-cores

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=319&threadid=90533&enterthread=y&STARTPAGE=1

 

[uguv]

Interesting how many users of E8400's have posted with stuck temp sensors at THG ... and how few have raised issues with Phenom's.

Sure it isn't as quick as a Q running at the same frequency - for most tasks.

I'd say based on posts the E8400 temp issue has become a disaster.

I'd say based on the phenom posts its mainly diehard Intel "trailer park techies".

lol

None of the problems with the E8400 or Phenom (besides that it's slower than it was hyped up to be) seem to be too wide spread. There are a few who like to try to make a big deal out of nothing by posting about these issues all the time, including one guy who keeps writing that the E8400 is going to set fire to its owner's house.

Also, since AMD has been relegated to the budget segment because it can't match up to Intel in terms of performance, the Phenom is probably the processor of choice in the trailer park community.

 

[jerseygamer]

I have put together 61 systems with Phenoms sense the release of the chips. Not one single person has called me or reported a single tlb bug or problem with any core to my knowledge. I get reports on every tech problem my systems have via the company I contract under. 61 working desktop compuers with zero problems is a good number. I almost never have problems with AMD systems. Now Intel builds at stock clocks are pretty bad. I average about 12-14 good builds before I get a report. Its almost always related to the controler or the MB in some way. Believe me folks current CPUs are not our problem. Its everything they are planted on we should be talking about. There is just to many variables in hardware after the cpu.

 

[Grimmy]

Yet together they have pushed the sale of salt to a new level.
My crystal ball isn't working, so I guess I'll just wait until Cebit to see what happens will B3.

Wait... hold on here.. Your Crystal Ball isn't working? [:mousemonkey:4]

I loaned out my crystal ball, maybe when I get it back I can answer your question.

You should give that back to her. You don't know where its been. [:mousemonkey:7]

 

[pogsnet]

TLB bug dont exist or will not happen or real use. It only exist on stressed conditions at lab tests.