AMD is launching some mainstream products during this period of crisis. Hmm... I wonder why. Well, in times when everybody is trying to cut down on costs from streetware to hardware, AMD thinks it is a good marketing plan to sell some low-budget processors. Not only they cost less than other, new generation computer parts out there, but if bought in 1,000 units, even the most expensive of these five new models is going to cost under $100.

What AMD did is make them energy efficient while also cutting a little on the performance side. For instance, the cheapest model, the AMD Athlon II X2 255 at 3.1 Ghz, costs just $74 dollars and has a TDP of only 65W. Although it is the most expensive of these new mainstream pros, the quad core AMD Phenom II X4 910e at 2.6 Ghz has exactly the same TDP as the X2 255, but will set you back $169 USD. Not bad at all.

The least power efficient models are the AMD Athlon II X3 440 at 3.0 Ghz and the X4 635 at 2.9 Ghz, which both have a TDP of 95W. The X3 costs $84 and the X4 is $119 USD. The fifth processors that AMD has put on the market with this new series is the AMD Phenom II X2 555, which costs $99 dollars.

All of AMD's fresh processors are compatible with DirectX 11 and with the new types of motherboards, which will be running on the AMD 800-series chipset. All the Windows 7 desktop gimmicks and widgets are supported by the five processors. You should be able to benefit from that design if the rest of the components in your system have been optimized for it, like these chipsets have.

You can benefit from AMD's Brilliant HD entertainment experience and also have some extra power management tools.


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