Advanced Micro Devices has announced that it will launch this month energy-efficient versions of three chip designs - the Athlon 64 X2 dual core, the Athlon 64 and Sempron single cores – as it intends to take over part of Intel’s market share.

Unfortunately, the new chips will cost 5% more than other AMD products, “but customers make up that difference through electricity savings”, said David Schwarzbach, division market manager for the desktop division.

AMD hopes to duplicate Opteron’s success, a chip created for servers and workstations, which determined strong quarterly earnings of $185 million in April, driving Intel to post a drop in quarterly profit to $1.3 billion.

Many analysts expect Intel to regain its advantage when it launches its 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo chips this summer, including the Woodcrest chip for servers and Conroe chip for desktops. These AMD chips are built on a larger, 90-nanometer geometry, but offer better power efficiency, the company says.

As they run at top speed, AMD's standard desktop processors draw 89 watts, while the new line of energy-efficient chips will need either 65 or 35 watts, depending on the model.

As a result, PC vendors could use ADM’s chips to design smaller, quieter computers, since the improved performance-per-watt means they can use smaller, slower fans for cooling.

"The heat, acoustics, and fan speed all decrease. That is the key whether IT managers are taking care of a fleet of systems, or people are trying to fit an unobtrusive PC into their living room or bedroom," Schwarzbach said.

The 65-watt processors will include six types of Athlon 64 X2 dual core processor: model numbers 4800+ (US$671), 4600+ ($601), 4400+ ($514), 4200+ ($417), 4000+ ($353), and 3800+ ($323).

The 35-watt processor will include one type of Athlon 64 X2 dual core chip, the model 3800+ ($364), one type of Athlon 64 single core, model 3500+ ($231), and three types of Sempron, models 3400+ ($145), 3200+ ($119), and 3000+ ($101).