AMD has broken new ground with the formal launch of the world's first Tri-core processor. The new processor is OEM-only and is not available in the retail channel, so you can expect to see PCs that sport the Phenom logo without necessarily spelling out the number of processor cores.

Based on the quad-core Phenom architecture, there are two members of the new Phenom X3 8000 series of processors at launch. The X3 8400 has a clock speed of 2.1GHz and the X3 8600 ticks along at 2.3GHz.

In an unusual twist, AMD also announced the successor to the X3 8000, which uses the B3 stepping of the Phenom core. AMD assures us that the X3 8000 doesn't suffer from the TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer) errata that plagued the launch of Phenom at higher clock speeds. The B3 stepping is supposed to cure the TLB errata once and for all and allows AMD to raise clock speeds.

The new models of Phenom 8000 will be the 2.1GHz 8450, 2.3GHz 8650 and the 2.4GHz 8750, which makes it hard to see why anyone would buy the first version of the X3 when the xx50 revision follows in a matter of weeks.