AMD has launched the Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor, a chip designed to meet requirements for greater performance for games and digital media content on personal computers.
AMD claimed in a statement the FX-60 is now the highest performing dual-core consumer processor from AMD, showing an average 34 percent improvement on overall digital media performance.
Bob Brewer, corporate vice president in the microprocessor solutions unit at AMD, said in a statement that those who crave ultimate performance on 3-D games and digital media applications can experience realistic physics and lighting and advanced artificial intelligence with FX-60.
The FX-60 clocks in at 2.6 gigahertz, compared to Intel’s 955 Pentium Processor Extreme Edition, whose high-end chipset runs up to 3.46GHz, according to an Intel document.
The FX-60 is available immediately worldwide, priced at $1,031 in 1,000-unit quantities, compared to Intel’s 955, which costs $999 for the same bulk package.
While pundits quibble about the pros and cons of features and costs in side-by-side comparisons of competing processors from Intel and AMD, dual-core technology in any capacity is a big deal these days.
Dual-core offers greater performance to computing machines without significantly elevating power consumption. This keeps costs down. Ultimately, dual-core chips provide better value propositions over their single-core predecessors.
But neither Intel nor AMD saw eye to eye on which segment of the computing market it should attack first for dual-core technology.
Intel kicked off dual-core support for gamers last April, while AMD followed with its own Opteron chips for servers a week later.
Intel months later went on to put dual-core in servers, while AMD is just starting to reach out to gamers with its own technology.