Sadly, AMD just can't seem to compete with Intel. The new B3 seems to have corrected the bugs reported in earlier Phenoms tested before the holidays, and that is great. But sadly, performance has not improved, at all. This in spite of AMD reporting otherwise.

Although I "currently" prefer Intel processors, I have no brand loyalty and through the years have used both. I am disappointed AMD is not able to catch up to Intel, however. That is not a criticism of AMD, in fact, it is a testament to Intel for coming from behind, AND for continuing to expand their lead which such vigor.

But we need AMD to do well - to keep the fires under Intel, to keep prices competitive, and to keep R&D money flowing. I hope AMD pulls their head out of their hat and a rabbit out of their... err - something like that - and soon.

HardareZone - AMD Phenom X4 9000 excerpts:

As much as we really wanted AMD to get back into the game, they can't seem to get their formula right.

the AMD Phenom X4 processors actually offer lower performance at a higher power draw than the Intel counterparts. Now that seriously isn't the right direction.

AMD's 'best' performing part, the Phenom X4 9850 'Black Edition' is priced quite close to that of Intel's entry-level quad-core offering, we closely pitted these together but only to find AMD on the losing end

If you need performance, Intel's Core 2 Quad is the answer and they've got performance better than the entire Phenom series more than a year ago. If you're hoping that the future Phenom X4 9950 to have any positive impact, our testing tells us nothing of that sort.

In terms of overall platform investment though, unless you're an AMD fan or would want to build a really entry-level system with an AM2+ board and a cheap Athlon 64 X2 processor (with Phenom upgradeability in future), we can't see why you would want to park yourself with the AMD Phenom now

Don't misunderstand us; the Phenom X4 processor works fine and all, but it's just not living up to expectations set by AMD nor of any impact/consideration when compared with Intel's offerings.

TweakTown Phenom X4 excerpts:

Until AMD get some speed increases on Intel, Phenom will simply be the cheaper brother to Intel Core 2 for mid to value based gaming computers.

the Phenom is a processor where if you’re looking to build a more budget oriented gamers system where you can spend a bit more on your graphics cards, this will make you a very happy gamer.

This isn’t to say Phenom doesn’t have a place in the market, its quad core nature and price bracket make it a perfect candidate for office environments