AMD’s six-core Thuban CPUs have been around for quite a few months now, so it should come as no surprise that the rumour mill is suggesting that a new hexacore chip, clocked at 2.7GHz, should be launching at some point in the third-quarter of this year. The Phenom II X6 1090T and 1055T were released in April and have managed to make quite an impression. Low prices, good overclocking headroom and the inclusion of Turbo Core made the chips an excellent value proposition.

The new CPU will reportedly launch at the bottom-end of the six-core line-up. Called the Phenom II X6 1045T, the processor will be clocked at 2.7GHz, 100MHz lower than the 1055T. Turbo Core will still be included, though, boosting some cores up to 3.2GHz in certain situations. Most of the rest of the spec sheet seems to match the chips that are already available, with a total of 6MB L3 cache and support for DDR3-1,333.

However, due to improvements in the design and manufacturing process, AMD is reckoned to be in a position to drop the TDP of the new processor from 125W to only 95W. This should mean lower heat generation and power-draw, allowing for more overclocking headroom on a design that already has a fair amount of room to breathe.

The most interesting news here, though, will be what we don’t yet know - the price. With the 1055T currently e-tailing for around ₤160, the 1045T could conceivably cost ₤140-150. These are very accessible prices, and may have a knock-on effect on CPUs from both manufacturers due to increased competition. We’ll be sure to post more as we get any firm details closer to the release date.