AMD Unveils Budget Processors

This week, AMD launched three budget processors aimed at the Windows 7 desktops. All these processors cost less that $100. Additionally, AMD also announed two quad-core desktop CPUs.

Two of these processors belong to the Athlon family while the third belongs to the Phenom II family.

The Athlon II X2 255 has a power rating of 65 watts, a clock speed of 3.1 GHz and is priced at $74 wholesale. The triple-core Athlon II X3 440, has a power rating of 95 watts, a clock speed of 3.0 GHz and costs $84. The dual-core AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition, has a power rating of 80 watts, clock speed of 3.2 GHz and costs $99.

The new quad-core processors are the Athlon II X4 635 and the Phenom II X4 910e, priced at $119 and $169, respectively. The Athlon II X4 635 runs at 2.9 GHz and consumes 95 watts of power. The Phenom II X4 910e requires 65 watts and runs at 2.6 GHz.

All of these processors are aimed at consumer desktops used for entertainment, casual gaming and Internet surfing. AMD recommends ATI Radeon 5800 Series graphics cards and AMD 7-series chipsets for these processors.

Earlier this month, AMD unveiled the ATI Radeon HD 5670, a $99 graphics card that supports Microsoft’s DirectX 11. This graphic card gives users of lower-priced mainstream desktops an option to improve graphics performance without having to invest a lot of money.

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield Review

The Intel Core i7-860 is designed to handle the most intense computing and visualization workloads. The processor allows you to multitask faster and unleash powerful media creation tools. Best of all, the 8MB of Intel Smart Cache gives you blazing speeds you never realized were possible.

Take advantage of Intel Turbo Boost technology which dynamically accelerates CPU performance to match your workload. Hyper-Threading technology effectively doubles the output of your four physical cores, giving you unmatched data processing. The Integrated Memory Controller optimizes data bandwidth with up to three channels.

Smart Cache provides a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem while HD Boost accelerates overall system performance across your multimedia applications. Add the Intel Core i7-860 to your system and you’ll never look back.

Specifications

CPU Socket Type
CPU Socket Type — LGA 1156

Tech Spec
Core — Lynnfield
Multi-Core — Quad-Core
Name — Core i7-860
Operating Frequency — 2.8GHz
L3 Cache — 8MB
Manufacturing Tech — 45 nm
64 bit Support — Yes
Hyper-Threading Support — Yes
Virtualization Technology Support — Yes
Thermal Design Power — 95W
Cooling Device — Heatsink and Fan included

AMD is planning to launch its Congo platform in the month of November this year. AMD’s Congo is specifically designed for ultra-thin notebooks. The platform was expected to be launched at the end of July this year but was postponed to weak demand for ultra-thin notebooks at that time.

The AMD Congo ultra-thin notebook platform will feature the dual-core Turion Neo X2 L625 or Athlon Neo X2 L335/L325 or single-core Athlon Neo MV-40 microprocessor and M780G chipsets.

As of writing, AMD has not yet made any announcements regarding the Congo platform. However, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has already launched a 12.1-inch ultra-thin notebook in Taiwan that features a Athlon Neo MV-40 processor which will be used in the Congo platform. The notebook uses the RS690E chipset from Yukon.

Over the next two years, AMD will launch two more ultra-thin notebook platforms–Nile and Brazos. AMD’s traditional notebook platform Tigris will be launched after Windows 7 becomes available. The Tigris platform will feature a 45nm Sempron M100 or Athlon II M300 or Turion II M500 or Turion II Ultra M600 processor.

Nvidia has announced that it will be suspending chipset development for Intel’s processor until a licensing issue is not resolved between both the companies.

Nvidia is suing Intel in a Delaware court over whether Nvidia’s current license covers the new technologies used in Intel’s latest microprocessors based on Nehalem microarchitecture. This technology is known as DMI and is implemented directly in the microprocessor. Intel has plans to use it in its future microprocessors.

Nvidia claims that Intel is giving its customers a wrong message stating that Nvidia is not licensed to use the new DMI bus. Taking this into account, Nvidia believes that it would be impossible for them to market chipsets for future Intel CPUs. Until the issue is resolved, Nvidia has decided to postpone all of chipsets for Intel DMI CPUs.

Chipsets are used to connect the microprocessor to the computer’s power supply and other peripheral components.

Intel has not made any comments on the issue till date. Intel believes that it is their decision and so it has nothing to say on the issue.

Intel has asked the court to rule on the 2004 licensing agreement after it became evident that the two companies wouldn’t be able to come to understanding over the two-year-old dispute. Intel is not seeking any damages. It is very likely that the court will hear the case in 2010.

Earlier in March, Nvidia countersued Intel in the same court accusing it of breach of contract. Nvidia is seeking termination of Intel’s license to Nvidia’s patent portfolio which includes 3-D GPU technologies.

In the recent years, Intel has been concentrating more of expanding the graphics capabilities of its chipsets. This is affecting Nvidia’s marketshare. On the other hand, Nvidia is making attempts to replace Intel chipsets.