It seems that Advance Micro Devices is on its way to change the name of its upcoming 45 nanometer processors. While the Phenom X4/X3 brand remains unchanged, the numbers that come after it will have five digits. According to sources, the two CPUs that will be released this year will be named Phenom X4 20550 and Phenom X4 20350, both featuring AM2+ and DDR2 support. The processors will be available for a short time only (about half a year or so) for the AM2+ users willing to upgrade their AMD chips.

Starting with the first half of the next year, all AMD Deneb microprocessors will feature AM3 socket and support for DDR3. The Propus chip is also expected to arrive in the first quarter of the year, and the name will become Phenom X4 16x00. AMD's triple core Heka and Rana CPUs will come on the 45nm line under the Phenom X3 14x00 and Phenom X3 12x00 names.

The new names are not a sure fact yet, but they may be legit, given that AMD has its 45nm Opteron processors going into the 8xxx name. The marketing impact these names will have should be an interesting fact to observe, as users may find them too heavy to digest. The end of the year will shed some light on this, once the first processors arrive.

AMD's 45nm chips are highly expected by the company's users and enthusiasts. The company is known to experience a lot of financial problems lately, and previous news said it was on the verge of spinning off a few of its manufacturing facilities. Also, analysts and industry observers were quite skeptical on AMD's potential to move to the 45nm fabrication process. Some of the company's officials said that it lacks the financial power to upgrade its fabrics as well. Still, the chip manufacturer wants to prove it is capable of standing the ground.