Advanced Micro Devices officially announced the launch of its three-core Phenom processors. The 8450, 8650, and 8750 X3 models, all featuring the three-core design, will replace and supplement the current 8400 and 8600. The Phenom X3 8750 (clocking at 2.4GHz) processor is priced at $195, the 8650 (running at 2.3GHz) at $165, and the 8450 (2.1GHz) at $145.

X3 Phenoms will also be bundled with the 780 graphics silicon to make up relatively cheap gaming computers.

Also, Advanced Micro Devices said that it's launching a new, more efficient quad-core Phenom X4 9100e processor which only consumes 65 watts, significantly less than the 95 watts of its predecessor.

"On one side, we have nVIDIA saying that the only thing that matters is graphics. On the other side, Intel is saying that the only thing that matters is the processor. (AMD offers) a balanced platform that doesn't overemphasize one really expensive component over another really expensive component," said Brent Berry, product marketing manager for AMD, in a statement.

Phenom is the same brand name used by AMD for its quad-core desktop processors. AMD Phenom triple-core processors are the world’s first PC processors to integrate three computational cores on a single die of silicon. That’s an improvement over Intel's quad-core processors that have two dual-core silicon chips inside a multi-chip package that does not include the memory controller.

The multi-core design of the upcoming AMD Phenom processor is based on Direct Connect Architecture, features an integrated memory controller and in addition, this next-generation architecture includes AMD’s Balanced Smart Cache for rapid access to memory, with a shared L3 cache for leading-edge performance on multi-threaded software.

With HyperTransport 3.0 and up to 16 GB/second of high bandwidth I/O, upcoming AMD Phenom processors are designed by AMD especially for the ultimate visual experience with amazing HD video and gaming resolutions, as well as high-speed disk and network interfaces. In addition, Cool‘n’Quiet 2.0 technology enables independent frequency adjustments to each processor core, and the HyperTransport bus and memory controller for a cooler and quieter PC.

By including a triple-core processor in its roadmap AMD is trying to be ahead of its rival Intel. Having a processor that offer a better performance than an dual-core chip, but cheaper than a quad-core solution, could boost AMD revenues especially since the company will be able to use quad-core parts where one of the processor cores does not meet quality controls.