Intel's Atom processor, the small-sized, low power CPU that is featured in most of today's current netbooks is bound to get a new competitor, coming from the company's long-time rival, Sunnyvale-based AMD. As we mentioned in a number of our previous articles, AMD has been rumored to be working on new CPUs to compete with Intel's 45nm Atom for a long time. However, it appears that the company has reached the final stages of development and should soon reveal details, if not the new products all together.

Recent information, based on a leaked slide, indicated that Advanced Micro would roll out two new Athlon processors, targeted at the growing netbook market. The upcoming CPUs will be part of the company's UVC (Ultra-Value Client) lineup and are designed to provide computer users with the basics in computing technology, without raising the price tag over most users' budget.

The new CPUs will come in two flavors and will deliver a maximum of 1.6GHz core speed, for a minimum of 15W of power. Athlon 2650a will sport 512KB of L2 cache and will be paired with AMD's 740G chipset. Just like Intel's Atom, the Athlon 2650a will be built as a single-core solution. The other new Athlon CPU will be available later in Q4 and will apparently feature two-cores, which will put it as a direct competitor for Intel's upcoming dual-core Atom 330. The Athlon X2 3250w will sport a core speed of 1.5GHz and a TDP of 22w. It will come with 1MB of L2 cache and as the single-core 2650a, will be paired with a 740G chipset.

Talking about AMD's 740G, you should know that despite the fact that the chipset was released quite a while ago, there are only a few number of motherboard manufacturers that have taken advantage of its specifications. We are talking about a chipset that incorporates a Radeon 2100 integrated GPU and the SB700 Southbridge, which can allow a maximum of 12 USB 2.0 connections and up to six SATA 2.0 devices, including eSATA. The chipset is ideal for small-sized desktop systems designed for not too demanding users. This is probably why AMD is expected to take on the nettop market, where there are only few products available, compared to the vast netbook market.

It's widely known that Intel's Atom isn't one of the company's best products. However, due to an impressive marketing strategy, the Atom has proved to be one of Intel's most successful processors, driving the company's overall sales. Netbook fans out there are expecting a better product, but with most system builders choosing Intel's Atom, that ultimately becomes just a dream. However, there are high hopes for AMD's upcoming UVC Atlhon processors, which, benefiting from a good marketing strategy, could actually become the best competitor for Intel's current and upcoming Atom processors.

One thing is certain, we won't know what AMD's upcoming processors are capable of until the Sunnyvale-based chip maker finally makes them available to OEMs. This could happen sooner than it was initially believed, so by the time Intel unveils its next Atom CPU, we could see several new netbooks based on AMD's Athlon 2650a. If you are interested in the subject, you can express your opinion on our new and improved board.