AMD's six-core Phenom II X6 could cost just a fraction of the price of an Intel model, mainboard producers said Thursday. The 2.8GHz 1055T and the 3.2GHz 1090T Black Edition would cost just $207 and $315 each versus the typical $999 for Intel's six-core, 3.33GHz Core i7 Extreme Edition. Both could result in six-core mainstream PCs well ahead of Intel's schedule, which may not have these options until later in the year.
Besides providing more cores at similar prices to quad-core chips, the two new processors will also support dynamic overclocking much like Intel's Turbo Boost. The 2.8GHz version should ramp up to 3.3GHz when one or more cores aren't used, and the 3.2GHz version will scale to 3.6GHz in the same conditions.
A launch window hasn't been given other than "soon," but DigiTimes understands that ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI are already poised to ship mainboards that support the new Phenom IIs.
The news of lower priced six-core chips comes just as AMD is rumored in talks with Apple and has been regaining an edge in the server space with 12-core Opterons.
Source: electronista
