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Advanced Micro Devices has released a pair of new Phenom processors, along with two more Athlon chips, that will round out the chip maker’s offerings for its recently released corporate desktop platform.
The new AMD processors, which the company announced Aug. 14, include a high-end, quad-core Phenom X4 9750B (2.4GHz) processor and a triple-core Phenom X3 8750B (2.4GHz) chip. AMD also released a pair of dual-core core Athlon processors: the Athlon X2 5600B (2.9GHz) and the Athlon X2 4850B (2.5GHz). The two Phenom processors work within a 95-watt thermal envelope, while the Athlon X2 5600B has a thermal envelop of 65 watts and the Athlon X2 4850B works at 45 watts.
While AMD has been emphasizing its notebook platform for months, the company also sees an opportunity for expanding into the corporate client space, where Intel has dominated the market for years. A recent IDC report found that Intel controls 73 percent of the overall desktop market, while AMD holds a 26 percent market share.
Although most of the consumers and business buyers are moving toward notebooks and other mobile devices, such as the Apple iPhone, corporate desktops remain an important and profitable section of the PC market, and AMD is seeking to round out its consumer PC offerings with a business-class platform.
The AMD desktop platform was released in April and features a number of specifications needed for corporate clients, including 24 months of stability for its processors and 18 months of stability for the chip sets.
AMD also believes that its tricore chips give the company’s product offerings an advantage, since these Phenoms offer more performance than standard dual-core processors, but cost less than high-end quad-core processors.
The release of these four processors comes at a time when Intel is cutting the prices of several of its processors, including chips for desktops. On Aug. 11, Intel cut the price of two Core 2 Duo desktop chips: the Core 2 Duo E8600 (3.33GHz) and the E7300 (2.66GHz).
Meanwhile, Intel is preparing to release processors based on its upcoming Nehalem microarchitecture. The first of these chips, called Intel Core i7, is slated for the high-end desktop and gaming market. Once the first of these Core chips are released, Intel will likely introduce a host of new processors for both consumer desktops and corporate clients.
In addition to the new AMD Athlon and Phenom processors, AMD offers a total of seven other chips for corporate clients.