AMD unveils enterprise PCs

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:40:09 -0400

So, you're a microprocessor vendor that's struggling to catch up to the competition: What are you to do? I can't say that "release enterprise-class machines" is the first thing that comes to mind, but you've got to give AMD points for originality. The company has just announced a wholly unexpected hardware line of a different sort, starting with the descriptively-named "Business Class desktop." Inside you'll find--what else?--an AMD CPU of your choosing, be it a dual-core Athlon X2, a triple-core Phenom X3 or a quad-core Phenom X4. The company will be selling the machines, which are aimed squarely at small and medium-sized businesses, via a troupe of enterprise vendors, including Acer, HP, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens and Lenovo. If that's not enough for the AMD fan in you, you'll be pleased to hear that the company plans to launch a similar AMD-branded laptop during the second half of the year.

For more on the new PCs:
- see this Engadget story

AMD tri-core Phenom gets reviewed

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:34:47 -0400

AMD's 2.4Ghz, triple-core Phenom X3 is a bit of an odd-bird: it's got more core than a dual-core CPU but it's not quite a quad-core chip. So, how does it perform? Well, according to the hardware heads at Maximum PC, exactly as you would expect: it's faster than AMD's dual-core offerings but not quite as fast as the quad-core parts. While that might strike a performance sweet spot for some, the chip's retail price--$195--makes it a tough sell, when quad-core CPUs from both AMD and Intel can be had for just a pittance more. "If performance is king, you should avoid tri core and go straight to a quad," Maximum PC writes. "If you’re on the fence between a dual and a tri, we would take a tri-core Phenom over a dual-core Athlon 64 any day of the week, but up against an Intel Core 2 Duo, it gets a little trickier."

For more on the Phenom X3:
- see this Maximum PC article