AMD has already been the first to offer a sub $100 quad-core chip a few months back, but now it feels that their processor line up could do with a bit of an over haul. Which is why, today AMD announced the availability of eight new Althon II processors aimed at providing fantastic performance and value, coupled with lower power requirements.  It would seem that AMD are targeting slim desktop computers and other Small Form Factor (SFF) computers with these new processors.

AMD is hoping that with these new processors OEMs such as Dell, Lenovo etc will be able to build attractive looking yet powerful single, dual, triple or quad core based systems while being able to market them as low power consuming devices, which is all important these days lets not forget. Of course in all seriousness, having an energy efficient design that produces less heat, means that the processor can perform better/faster whilst not requiring such a substantial and large cooling system. Fitting a large cooling system into a SFF computer isn't all that practical given the limited amount of space that's usually available in a small system, so efficiency in CPU design in a must for these systems if they are to provide a decent level of performance.

AMD pointed out in it's press release that the new Athlon II X2 240e costs over $40 less than Intel's Core 2 Duo E7400 while providing up to 70 percent better performance in certain applications. The Athlon II X3 435 on the other hand delivers 75 better performance while costing over $100 less compared to the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500.