14 DAY TRIAL // Intel may have been the first to release a six-core processor but its hexacore is only one chip and is exclusively aimed at the enthusiasts market. Seeing this opportunity, Advanced Micro Devices is planning on launching not one but several six-core chips of its own, with various clock speeds. Initially, AMD was intent on first introducing some CPUs with lower clocks, meant for the mainstream six-core market that Intel has no hold over, at least for now. However, more recent reports suggest that the Sunnyvale, California-based company has changed its plans.
AMD is supposedly aiming to first launch the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T central processing unit in the second quarter of 2010. This chip has a clock speed of 3.2 GHz and, most likely, will be AMD's means to secure positive reviews at launch.
This chip will be accompanied, in the second quarter, by the Phenom II X6 1055T and 1035T processors, with clocks of 2.8 GHz and 2.6GHz, respectively. AMD meant to first introduce the less speedy Phenom II X6 1075T, which has a clock of 3.0 GHz. Now that its roadmap is changed, this particular model has been supposedly pushed back to the third quarter.
In order to offer support for applications that are not designed to run on CPUs with so many individual cores, AMD's future processors will boast the turbo Core technology that will dynamically boost used cores and power down unused ones in order to optimize performance. As such, depending on the model, the six-core CPUs will be able to increase clocks by 400MHz to 500MHz when half the cores are inactive, which would make the 1090T operate at 3.6GHz, for example.
There is still no official word on the prices but “sources close to AMD” supposedly suggest that the X6 1090T will carry a price tag of about $300 and the 1055T will cost roughly $250. Predictably, AMD did not comment on the rumors.