AMD launches superexpensive gaming chip |
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Tue, 28 Jun 2005 03:05
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Advanced Micro Devices has rolled out the Athlon 64 FX-57, the latest in line of chips targeted at gaming PCs. This is the chipmakers fastest single-core processor.
Though the first Athlon 64 X2 dual core chips have already hit the markets, it is a common perception that they are of no use to gamers and rightly so, for all the games in the market today are single threaded applications and thus adding a second CPU core does not make much sense to an average gamer. The FX-57 seeks to take the place of Athlon 64 FX-55, which currently holds sway as AMD's high-end single-core chip.
The Athlon 64 FX-57 is based on the 90-nanometre Silicon-On-Insulator process and is said to be a major help in lowering manufacturing costs, besides providing greater efficiency The FX-57 has a massive 1MB L2 cache an also supports a 2-GHz HyperTransport bus. So far so good, eh? Now for the price. As expected the FX-57 has been priced at the high-end. It carries a price tag of approx £600.
Jonathan Seckler, AMD's senior product manager of the desktop business was quite frank in admitting that the chip was designed "for the enthusiast market, the gamers ... people with way too much money on their hands." He added, "These would be systems that cost $2,000 and up."
Though the price of the Home PC has dipped in the last few years, gaming machines continue to be beyond the reach of average folks. Says Roger Kay, an analyst at the industry research firm IDC, "They're at about 5 percent of the overall PC market, so it's pretty small, but it's a desirable segment. First, gamers pay more for their PCs, and the other thing is that they are influential. Their family members, friends or acquaintances typically look to them when shopping for a PC."
System equipped with the FX-57 are available with vendors such as ABS, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Polywell, Systemax and Voodoo PC.
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