3800 and 3600 not available
AMD has been plagued by Llano yields for months and sceptics now claim the outfit won’t be able to improve yields before it launches Trinity.
A quick glance at out price search engine reveals that most Llano parts are widely available in Europe, ranging from the A4-3300 dual-core, which was introduced in late August, to the A8-3850, the first Llano to launch back in June.
However, the most attractive models are nowhere to be found. The A6-3600 and A8-3800 are quad-core models, with Turbo and modest 65W TDPs. They would probably be the best choice, as faster parts don’t feature Turbo and they have a 100W TDP. The rest of the line-up is made up by triple- and dual-cores. The Athlon II X4 631 is the only exception, but this is a regular CPU, no graphics on board.
The shortage is somewhat puzzling. Despite yield issues, the rest of the series does not suffer from shortages and they are available in volume. However, the two most attractive chips are not even listed by hundreds of retailers who have other Llanos in stock, which is a bit frustrating. So, AMD either underestimated demand for these two parts, or they scored some big OEM contracts.
Whatever the case, consumers simply can’t get their hands on the best Llano chips out there and they are left with a choice of 100W quads or 65W triple cores.
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