In an attempt to gain an advantage in the gaming PC market, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today launched what it called its "highest-performing CPUs" to date.
Two new quad-core Phenom II processors, aimed at high-end desktop PCs, were announced by AMD at the International CES in Las Vegas. The chips succeed the Phenom processor that the company launched in 2007, and come two days after AMD announced the new Athlon Neo processor for small laptops.
The quad-core Phenom II chips run at speeds up to 3 GHz and include 8MB of cache. The chips are capable of even faster clock speeds under certain circumstances. For example, AMD overclocked Phenom II processors to run at up to 4 GHz on air-cooled systems, and up to 5 GHz on liquid-nitrogen cooling late last year.
Dell Inc. is already offering the XPS 625 desktop based on the Phenom II, though pricing information was not immediately available. PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Alienware will also offer Phenom II-based desktops later in the year, according to AMD.
AMD is targeting gamers and enthusiasts with the chips, which are also affordable enough for mainstream users looking for a good gaming system, the company said.
AMD's Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition processor, which runs at 3.0 GHz, is priced at $275, while the Phenom II X4 920 processor, which runs at 2.8 GHz, is sold for $235.
The Phenom II CPUs are manufactured using a 45-nanometer process, which makes the chips more power efficient than earlier chips.
The new chips are part of AMD's new Dragon platform for desktops, which includes graphics chips, chip sets and CPUs for gaming and media-intensive desktops. The platform includes the ATI Radeon 4800 series graphics cards in addition to the Phenom II.
An interesting feature of the platform is a set of customized controls to boost performance of gaming PCs. Called OverDrive, these controls allow users to ratchet up performance by overclocking the CPUs, which can then be easily returned to a normal speed at the touch of a button.
The platform also includes the ATI Video Converter software, which can convert videos to play on portable entertainment devices, according to AMD.
The platform will initially support DDR2 memory, but faster DDR3 memory support may come in a few months, AMD has said. Compared to DDR2 memory, DDR3 provides a larger bandwidth for quicker data transfers between the CPU and memory in PCs. To support DDR3 memory, AMD will introduce the new AM3 socket for motherboards in the next few months.
High-end chips for gaming systems are also offered by Intel Corp., which launched its Core i7 processor in November.