14 DAY TRIAL // In addition to the newly announced Istanbul-based Opteron processors, the Sunnyvale, California-based chip maker Advanced Micro Devices also unveiled a couple of new consumer processors, enhancing the performance of the company's dual-core offering. With the announcement, AMD introduced two new processors, built on the company's latest 45nm manufacturing process. The new Athlon II X2 250 and the Phenom II X2 550 will provide computer enthusiasts with a series of performance enhancements and features to help them complete their own “Dragon” platform.
According to AMD, its latest 45nm Athlon II X2 250 processor will provide users with support for the upcoming Windows 7 operating system and feature a new power management technology, dubbed AMD PowerNow 3.0. This, in addition to a TDP level of 65W, can help customers increase the power efficiency of their upcoming computer systems. Additional features of the new dual-core Athlon processor include a core level of 3.0GHz, 2MB of total dedicated L2 cache, 4000MHz HyperTransport bus and socket AM3 compatibility.
With the new Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition, AMD brings its latest Phenom II processor architecture to dual-core platforms, featuring a new processor that has been clocked at 3.1GHz and boasts 1MB of total dedicated L2 cache, 6MB of L3 cache and the same HyperTransport bus and socket AM3 compatibility. The new processor also features support for AMD's OverDrive 3.0 technology, which will provide overclocking enthusiasts with support to tweak the CPU speed and increase overall performance.
The performance increases promised by the company's latest processors are to be taken into consideration as they provide users with an alternative for a more affordable “Dragon” platform. As far as pricing is concerned, AMD announced that its new Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition consumer processors would become available for an estimated US$87 and US$102, respectively.
