New 45nm AMD CPUs Coming in Q3 2009

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

AMD plans to move its production line to the 45nm manufacturing node in Q3 while releasing a few new 45nm processors before the end of the year.

In an attempt to reduce costs, AMD plans to move its production line to the 45nm manufacturing in Q3 of this year. The Sunnyvale, California-based chipmaker already has two products currently using the next-generation processing: the quad-core Phenom II X4 800 and 900 series (Deneb), and the triple-core Phenom II X3 700 series (Heka). From a price and performance standpoint, these two processors have helped AMD compete against its main competitor, Intel, in the CPU market currently dominated by the rival chipmaker.

However, AMD is moving additional CPUs over to the 45nm processing as well, starting with the dual-core Phenom II X2 500 series (Callisto), and the Athlon II X2 200 series in June. By September, AMD will have added the quad-core Athlon II X4 600 series and triple-core Athlon II X3 400 series (Rana) processors. These should help AMD fend off Intel's assault when the rival company launches its three quad-core Lynnfield CPUs in the third quarter.

In addition to moving its desktop CPUs over to 45nm, AMD also has plans to launch several CPUs between Q2 and Q3 2009, most notably with the dual-core Phenom II X2 550 and 545 hitting the market by the end of the second quarter. The third quarter will see a large helping of new AMD releases: the quad-core Phenom II X4 945 (95W) and 8xx (95W), the triple-core Phenom II X3 7xx (95W), the quad-core Athlon II X4 630 and 620, the triple-core Athlon II X3 435 and 425, and the dual-core Athlon II X2 250, 245, and 240.

According to DigiTimes, there are also plans to release ten low-power consumption CPUs as well, including AMD's Phenom II X4 905e, Phenom II X3 705e and Athlon II X4 605e. These round out to a relatively great release schedule for the second half of 2009. A little competition between companies only means better products for the consumer.

Kevin Parrish
See more CPUs News
62 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thegh0st
    Ok so I know this an AMD article and this announcement is cool and all -

    but really Tom's - it is nearly the end of the month and I still haven't seen news on the new core i7's that I thought were supposed to be released at the end of May. Do we really have to wait until the day they come out to hear about them and research them? Is it that bad to tell us about them a little bit early so we can start making decisions on them? grrr - I've been waiting for THAT news for a while which I thought this article was about at first split second glance then read the 3rd word - AMD.
    Reply
  • IronRyan21
    Whats the difference between these new dual core phenoms x2 and athlon x2? It seems theres gonna be a lot of options for cpu buyers. It seems kinda confusing right now.
    Reply
  • chris13th
    IronRyan21Whats the difference between these new dual core phenoms x2 and athlon x2? It seems theres gonna be a lot of options for cpu buyers. It seems kinda confusing right now.According to a couple different sources, the difference will be that the Phenom line with have an L3 cache, when the lower end Athlons will not.
    Reply
  • B-Unit
    thegh0stOk so I know this an AMD article and this announcement is cool and all - but really Tom's - it is nearly the end of the month and I still haven't seen news on the new core i7's that I thought were supposed to be released at the end of May. Do we really have to wait until the day they come out to hear about them and research them? Is it that bad to tell us about them a little bit early so we can start making decisions on them? grrr - I've been waiting for THAT news for a while which I thought this article was about at first split second glance then read the 3rd word - AMD.Go yell at Intel's marketing team for not releasing info, not Toms for not making sh*t up.
    Reply
  • collisionss
    OH YAYAYAYAY 45NM I'M SO HAPPY I CANT WAIT TILL THEY COME OUT!! I'M GOING TO SWITCH MY WHOLE SYSTEM OVER TO AMD!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAY
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    What, a quad-core Athlon! This is starting to look pretty damn good, but I wonder how they'll differentiate the Phenom X4 and Athlon X4, and what the prices would be.
    Reply
  • Ciuy
    Jesus, they plan launching alot of CPUs lol ... i dont even know what to get now omfg .
    Reply
  • chris13th
    eddieroolzWhat, a quad-core Athlon! This is starting to look pretty damn good, but I wonder how they'll differentiate the Phenom X4 and Athlon X4, and what the prices would be.L3 cache. read my previous post.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    I may be wrong, but I believe I've also heard the Phenom II has better clock efficiency compared to the Athlons.
    Reply
  • soonerproud
    anamaniacI may be wrong, but I believe I've also heard the Phenom II has better clock efficiency compared to the Athlons.

    I was under the impression that the new Athlon II processors lacked L3 and are based on the original Phenom design, not the Phenom II. Could some one confirm if this is the case or not at Tom's?
    Reply