It has been a little over a year since AMD released the original Phenom processor, publicized as the world's first "native" quad-core desktop processor. I won't lie to you (and you probably already know all this), the original Phenom had a rough start with the TLB bug, and performance just wasn't what everyone was hoping for. Intel was dominating the market with their shiny new 45nm chips, and AMD fans kind of felt let down. With the new Phenom II however, the performance we have come to expect from AMD is definitely back in a solid product.