AMD has started shipping C3 stepping Phenom II processors.

The new stepping should allow for some lower operating voltages and power consumption, however, the TDP rating has not been changed.

The new Phenom II 945 and 955 Black Edition are still rated at 95W and 125W respectively. Bear in mind that AMD already reduced the TDP in previous revisions of some Phenom II CPUs.

No price change is expected for the C3 stepping models, and they should sell at the same price as C2 versions, around €120 for the 945 and €130 for the 955 BE.

Stepping 3 should be the last revision before AMD transitions to 32nm at some point in 2011, hopefully.