Three more triples
AMD is the only CPU maker to offer triple core processors and it's hoping to expand that niche with the launch of three new X3 products.
Heading the new arrivals is AMD's first Black Edition triple-core, the Phenom X3 8750. The Black Edition series is designed to be (relatively) easily overclockable, featuring Clock Multiplier Control and tunable performance.
The other two new products are the Phenom X3 8450e and Phenom X3 8250e, both designed to be energy efficient - hence the "e". They run at 65 watts and appear to be designed with small form factor PCs in mind.
The 8750 Black Edition features on AMD's price list at $134, five dollars more than the vanilla edition. The other two don't currently appear on the price list, but the vanilla 8450 is listed at $104.
AMD has also announced a new "Optimum Platform for Virtualisation" for its Opteron server processors to run in conjunction with Microsoft virtualisation technology.
Specifically, Opterons with "AMD-V" technology are now optimised to run Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtualisation software. "Now, through our continued partnership with Microsoft, AMD is expanding virtualisation's reach and the benefits of resource consolidation to companies that might not have taken advantage of virtualisation in the past," said Kevin Knox, VPof Worldwide Commercial Business at AMD.
