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AMD bolsters budget CPU line with new Phenom and Athlon additions

by Parm Mann on 25 January 2010, 10:25

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD)

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AMD's roadmap suggests that the Sunnyvale, California-based semiconductor company is some way from matching Intel in the performance stakes, but it continues to be a thorn in its rival's side with the launch of new budget-friendly parts.

Arriving today are five new AMD CPUs that promise to "give mainstream consumers advanced performance capabilities from their desktop PCs at increasingly attractive price points".

The picks of the bunch are arguably the latest addition to AMD's dual-core Phenom X2 line and a new quad-core Athlon II X4. AMD's dual-core Phenom - the 3.2GHz Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition - becomes the company's fastest dual-core desktop offering and carries a TDP of 80W and a thousand-unit price tag of just $99, suggesting decent refinements to GlobalFoundries' 45nm fabrication process.

Similarly, the company's 2.9GHz Athlon II X4 635 becomes the fastest product in the quad-core Athlon II line and carries a price-tag of $119 - that's slightly less than the launch price of last year's budget introduction, the Athlon II X4 630. AMD's complete line of new introductions is detailed as follows:

CPU Name  TDP  Frequency  1ku Price
 AMD Athlon II X2 255  65W  3.1GHz  $74
 AMD Athlon II X3 440  95W  3.0GHz  $84
 AMD Athlon II X4 635  95W  2.9GHz  $119
 AMD Phenom II X2 555  80W  3.2GHz  $99
 AMD Phenom II X4 910e  65W  2.6GHz  $169

There's nothing to give Intel's Clarkdale a run for its money, we reckon, but AMD's parts are comfortably cheaper and, as always, AMD is quick to mention that combining any of the above with an AMD 7-series chipset and Radeon HD 5000-series graphics makes for an "optimal user experience".

Certainly a useful range of new CPUs, but in the grand scheme of things, not a whole lot changes. AMD continues to offer decent bang-for-buck, but the big bangs continue to come AMD's neighbours in Santa Clara.



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Sounds nice, AMD seem to be trying to keep the sub £100 niche theirs untill they have a more competitive product in the higher end.
And thats exactly what they should be doing really, theres more sales and overall profit in mid to low range sales than there is in the high end.

Im hoping AMD's new bulldozer chips are great when they come out, might persuade me to change from my e8400 to it!.
Really disappointed that the new AMD boards don't seem to support USB3 as standard though?
db298
Really disappointed that the new AMD boards don't seem to support USB3 as standard though?

There haven't been any new chipsets from AMD lately, so I would not expect any standardised boards untill the chipsets are updated.