Athlon 64 X2 Family Gets Surprise Addition
The 6000+ isn't the end of the line for AMD Athlon 64 X2 after all. Dispite AMD roadmaps long foretelling that the Athlon 64 X2 product line as we currently know it would end with the 6000+, Digitimes is reporting that AMD is planning to release a new addition to the line-up. The new part will be badged as the 6400+ and will clock in at 3.2GHz with 2MB of L2 cache. This comes as a surprise since the 6400+ has not appeared on any AMD roadmap. However, some motherboard makers are supposed to have already recieved samples and the chips are expected to ship "shortly".
"Currently, AMD's highest-end desktop processor is the Athlon 64 X2
6000+, however with its performance unable to match Intel's upcoming
Core 2 Duo E6850, AMD plans to launch the new 6400+ to cover up the gap
in the market, noted the sources."
" In testing, performance of the 6400+ is 10-15% below the E6850, and the CPU has limited overclock capability, said the sources, who also pointed out that the price gap compared to the E6850 is not huge."
" In testing, performance of the 6400+ is 10-15% below the E6850, and the CPU has limited overclock capability, said the sources, who also pointed out that the price gap compared to the E6850 is not huge."
Last week, AMD admitted that its next-gen processor, the "Phenom", won't be available in significant volume until Q1 2008. The somewhat sudden release of the 6400+ seems to be an effort to plug the gap left in their line-up until Phenom shows up in force. The 6400+ will be shipping at a price somewhere between $220 and $248 to compete with Intel's E6850 and to fill AMD's high-end which is currently held by the 6000+ at a rather non high-end $178.
