AMD Releases Processor Updates

AMD today have launched five new processors, to replace current products, ranging from the budget Athlon II X2 260 to the Athlon II X4 610.

New Processor	Speed / Mhz	Cores	TDP	Price	Processor Replaced
Athlon II X4 640	3000	4	95W	$122	Athlon II X4 635
Athlon II X4 610e	2400	4	45W	$143	Athlon II X4 605e
Athlon II X3 445	3100	3	95W	$87	Athlon II X3 440
Athlon II X3 415e*	2500	3	45W	$102	Athlon II X3 405e
Athlon II X2 260	3200	2	65W	$76	Athlon II X2 255

^*The X3 415e is a 200Mhz improvement over the 405e.

All these new processors are AM3/AM2+ compatible, and the Athlon II X4 635 becomes AMD's best sub-$100 quad core processor, replacing the X4 630.  Compare that with Intel's cheapest i5 quad-core processor, the i5-750, which currently retails at $199.

With this release, AMD are aiming at budget and mainstream markets, including low power conscious users - AMD list maximum temperatures for all models at below 75ºC.  In terms of choice and compute-per-dollar, AMD is attacking the market hard. However, sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing - technically AMD are not discontinuing the oldest processors yet.  

We have a few of these processors in to test, so stay tuned for results.