AMD Phenom 9500 Linux Performance

When testing the Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor we were pleased with the results. This AMD 790FX motherboard had no Linux compatibility problems, an acceptable level of performance, and a smooth BIOS upgrading process even for someone without a Windows installation or MS-DOS disk. However, once plopping in the AMD Phenom 9500 processor our pleasant experience soon went south. We immediately began with a kernel panic, and addressed that by a quick reinstall, but then were greeted by other issues -- mostly revolving around the system's stability.

Looking at the quantitative performance, the results were acceptable but nothing to drool over. In benchmarks that were able to properly take advantage of four cores (namely Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and the kernel compilation) the results were fruitful. The Phenom setup had also demonstrated strong performance in RAMspeed.

Regarding our Linux issues, we'll continue to try new BIOS updates, different 790FX motherboards, and the latest Linux development kernels until we're satisfied. For now, however, we're unable to recommend the Phenom processor until these problems can be explained and sorted out. The 790FX Chipset on Linux with an older AMD processor hadn't exhibited any of these issues. Fortunately, at least the Radeon HD 3870 performs nicely on Linux and has an emerging open-source future.

If you're still after an AMD quad-core desktop processor right now, the Phenom 9500 will set you back $200 USD. An additional $40 will buy an Phenom 9600 that is clocked at 2.30GHz. Additional AMD Phenom processors will be introduced this quarter.

If you've tried an AMD Spider system on Linux, please share your results in the Phoronix Forums.