Advanced Micro Devices quietly rolled out two new dual-core Athlon chips this week: The X2 7750 Black Edition processor, which clocks at 2.7 GHz and lists for just $79; and the X2 7550 — a 2.5-GHz processor that appears destined for sale to desktop PC manufacturers at even lower prices.
Both new chips employ the same processor die that AMD uses to manufacture its triple-core Phenom X3 and quad-core Phenom X4 processors, but with only two of the cores activated, noted Matthew Wilkins, a principal analyst at iSuppli.
“The thing that jumps out at me is that they are essentially introducing two chips that are quad-core processors, but with two of the cores turned off, which is certainly an interesting way of bringing a new product to market,” Wilkins explained.
‘Why Would They Do That?’
Earlier this year, AMD took the same approach when it rolled out a new triple-core processor that was essentially a quad-core chip but with one of the cores turned off, Wilkins said. “The question is,” he noted, “why would they do that?”
Wilkins thinks it would have been more advantageous for AMD to have released all three throttled-back chips as full-blown quad-core processors.
“If they had sold them as quad-cores, it would have generated quite a bit of movement in the market,” Wilkins said. “The trouble is, the move would have caused problems” by “taking the focus away from their other new products.”
AMD recently announced the widespread availability of the quad-core Opteron processor that it had formerly code-named Shanghai. The new device can deliver up to 35 percent more performance with up to a 35 percent decrease in power consumption at idle, the chipmaker says.
AMD’s quad-core Opteron processor is destined for deployment in servers, not desktop PCs. Still, the chipmaker may have other products waiting in the…