14 DAY TRIAL // AMD is very serious when it comes to keeping the pace with INTEL. Motive for which, the new 65nm line will also include single cores. The first to come (in February) are Athlon 64 3500+ and Athlon 64 3800+ clocked at 2.2GHz and 2.4GHz respectively (same as the 90nm CPUs), both having 512KB of l2 cache. DDR2-800 is the top speed supported but TDP has been lowered from 62W to 45W (27.4%).
The single core 65nm line will flourish in the beginning of Q2 when some 10 more 65nm models will enter the market. Among them are included the performance Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (2.8GHz/512KB L2 x2) and 5200+ (2.7GHz/512KB L2 x2). For the mainstream, the dual-core Athlon 64 X2 will have 3 more 35W TDP CPUs including Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2GHz/512KB L2 x 2), X2 4000+(2.1GHz/512KB L2 x 2) and X2 3800+(2GHz/512KB L2 x 2). As you can see, there will only be 512kB/l2 cache models here, regardless of the number of cores.
The fastest single core will remain the Athlon 64 4000+ at 2.6GHz but with a lowered TDP at 45W. For the entry level, there are 4 65nm Semprons (codename Sparta) that will come out in Q2 with the following specs: 3400+ (1.8GHz/256KB L2), 3500+ (2GHz/128KB L2), 3600+ (2GHz/256KB L2), and 3800+ (2.2GHz/128KB L2). All 4 Semprons will have a 35W TDP and will only support HTT 4x (800MHz).
The 90nm parts are said to completely disappear by the end of 2007. With the help of immersion lithography, ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics, and multiple enhanced transistor strain techniques, AMD and IBM expect the first 45nm products to be available in mid-2008. This brotherhood should last until 2011 when we will probably have 32nm and 22nm CPUs. It all sounds good but don?t think that INTEL will lessen the pressure and I hope that AMD doesn?t think that either.