AMD Dual-Core Athlon 64 on the market in 2005

Don’t expect the performance to double with a dual-code CPU

AMD has promised to ship its 64-bit Athlon Dual Core processor in the second half of this year as the CPU was demonstrated in the Sunnyvale headquarters today.

Despite having two cores (which means that two processors are embedded on the same silicon die), the Dual-Core Athlon 64 will not be the fastest chip of the company. The Athlon 64 FX processor will stay at the top of the line, and will be the one that AMD recommends for gaming (It is funny how gaming has become the ultimate power user in recent years).

Don’t think that only desktops will have these CPUs, a mobile version is also in the roadmap: “In 2005, AMD will introduce dual core processors to the market, starting with servers and workstations and then extending into desktops and mobile PCs” (AMD).

The average consumer won’t initially get much benefit from the multi-processors chip. It will take time for software applications to catch up. However, one can expect better system response time because any Windows system has a bunch of programs running in parallel. I think that I’ll upgrade my system in December… if the price is right. Up until now, AMD has been very competitive, so I don’t worry too much about that. Press Release

via AMD