14 DAY TRIAL // The extensive collection of mobile central processors that AMD plans to release, and that has already scored a high number of design wins, is likely the main thing on the minds of many consumers. Unfortunately, these new parts won't come out before June. All is not lost, though, seeing how Advanced Micro Devices has decided to appease its customers by refreshing a certain other product line in the meantime.
AMD has released six new chips as part of the Athlon II Series for desktop personal computers. These newcomers are known as the quad-core Athlon II X4 610e and X4 640, the triple-core X3 415e and X3 445 and the dual-core Athlon II X2 245e and X2 260.
The X4 610e is the more expensive of the two quad-core models and also the least power hungry. Though it can only operate at a 2.4GHz frequency, it has a TDP (thermal design power) of only 45W. The X4 640, on the other hand, is the most powerful of all newcomers. While it consumes 95W, each of its four cores runs at 3.0GHz. HotHardware and Legit Reviews have already published reviews of this CPU.
At the other end of the spectrum are, naturally, the dual-core units. Clocked at 3.2GHz and 2.9 GHz, respectively, the X2 260 and X2 245e each have 2MB of L2 cache memory and TDPs of 65W and 45W. As for the X3 445 and X3 415, they run at 3.1GHz and 2.5 GHz, have a cache memory of 1.5MB and TDPs of 95W and 45W, respectively.
The AMD Athlon II X2 260 and X2 245 are priced at $76 and $77, whereas the triple-core X3 445 costs $87 and the 415e $102. As for the quad-core models, they are quite cheap themselves compared with other products on the market. The Athlon II X4 640 costs $122, whereas the X4 610e carries a price tag of $145.