14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Micro Devices prepares for the launch of its much awaited line of quad core central processing units, the Phenom class of products, but until then the hardware manufacturing company tries to capitalize as much as possible on the low cost and entry level performance market segments with a new range of offerings.
So, a new line of energy efficient central processing units from AMD is going to hit the market sooner or later and with it, a new branding and naming scheme is also expected to become reality. The new series of central processing units from AMD is aimed at users that are going to build their own custom desktop computer system and all the products from the new range are coming with a power envelope of 45 watts being well suited for quiet systems, entry level solutions and computer systems that are trying to exceed the EPA's ENERGY STAR (Version 4) specification.
The 45 watts envelope represents the maximum potential thermal dissipation and not the actual expected to be encountered dissipation under real world workloads and operating conditions, so the new central processing units may in fact run with a significantly lower footprint than advertised.
According to the news site arstechnica, the new range of products includes both single and dual core architectures, so the performance level is above the lower end of the spectrum. As the top of the line we have the Athlon 64 X2 BE-2400 which is priced at $104 and runs at 2.3GHz while single core solutions are ranging from the Athlon 64 LE-1620( running at 2.4GHz and priced at $53) to the Athlon 64 LE-1600 that runs at 2.2Ghz while having a price tag of $47.
The Sempron class of central processing units, representing the new entry level processors from AMD is present here too with the Sempron LE-1250 that runs at a clock speed of 2.2GHz and has a price tag of $53, while lower end CPUs are available as well for users needing the maximum performance-per-watt ratio. For these users AMD recommends the Sempron LE-1200 running at 2.1GHz and coming with a price tag of $48 and the Sempron LE-1100 that runs at a frequency of 1.9GHz while being priced at $37.
On the naming side, AMD looks like it got tired of the X2, X4, LS, GS and GP model codes, so the company decided to simplify its naming scheme in order to avoid confusing its customers. For quad core processors we will have the Phenom 9 series of products, while the three cored ones will be known as the Phenom 7s and the list goes on with the dual core Athlon 6 series, stopping at the single cored Athlon LE-1 and Sempron LE-1 series of entry level offerings.