AMD launched its dual-core Athlon 64 processor, promising a performance boost just as rival Intel had done last week with its own dual-core announcement.The AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor, designed for desktop and desktop-replacement notebooks, improves performance by as much as 80 percent on select digital media and productivity applications compared to single-core the AMD Athlon 64 processor, the company asserted. AMD has rounded up impressive partners, including Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Alienware among the leading manufacturers planning to offer AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor-based systems. “HP is always looking for opportunities to deliver leading-edge technologies to our customers that will dramatically improve their computing experience,” said John Romano, Senior Vice President, Consumer PC Global Business Unit, HP. “The AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor running on HP systems will offer users the ability to enjoy and create with their digital content, work on multiple demanding tasks at once, as well as run background applications – all with a smooth operation of each task.” “Alienware demands the latest and most powerful technology for its systems, and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor easily fits this stringent criteria by providing remarkable performance enhancements for digital media, content creation and multi-tasking,” said Frank Azor, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Alienware Worldwide Product Group, Alienware Corporation. “Alienware is excited to be working with AMD to put this ground-breaking technology in the hands of our global customer base.” Several prototype systems based on the new chip were on show at a launch event at the Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan. They included a consumer desktop PC from HP, a media center PC from Wistron Corp., the Feng Xing K9000 from Lenovo Group, Acer’s Aspire T140, Iwill Corp.’s ZMax DP and Shuttle Inc.’s XPC ST20G5. The new processor will also be supported by more than 40 leading system-builder partners worldwide.The Athlon 64 X2 is hardware-compatible with motherboards for AMD’s single-core Athlon 64 chip, although current boards will require a BIOS (basic input output system) upgrade, IDG News Service reported. The advantage of this is that boards for the chip are already on the market, and it also makes upgrading an existing system relatively simple. The chip will initially be available in four versions, which don’t come cheap. The prices range from $537 for the 4200+ ver-sion to $1,001 for the 4800+ version — and those prices are for bulk purchases of 1,000 chips or more. “We’ve decided to go first at the high end of the market,” said Henri Richard, executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, at a news conference in Taipei. Asked if AMD’s chips might be too expensive for system integrators, especially compared to the slightly lower prices of dual-core Intel chips, Richard said Intel’s chips require a new chipset and additional cooling. As a result, the overall price difference between the companies won’t be as great as the difference in chip pricing, he said. AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor performance benchmarks have already yielded results, the company said. Digital media applications can see an average of a 34 percent increase compared to similar single-core AMD Athlon 64 proces-sors, while overall productivity benchmark results can see a 22 percent average increase. These dramatic performance gains available with AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors allow power-hungry users to usher in the next generation of digital media software with amazing high definition video rendering and editing, digital content creation, imaging, and audio mixing. The new chips may not be useful for all needs, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group in San Jose, California, who attended the AMD event. Users who recently bought a machine don’t need rush into replacing it with a dual-core model, but users just replacing their machine now might con-sider the dual-code chip, especially given the typical three-year lifespan for a desktop PC. The reason: the new chips will deliver even greater performance gains when used with a 64-bit operating system. Microsoft just launched such a version of Windows but it is not easy to obtain for the average user, and there are still many issues associated with drivers for peripherals. “If you want a machine that’s ready for Longhorn, that’s when it comes into play,” Enderle said. Technology Industry