Is dual-core 3600+ answer to AMD's prayers? [No. Ed.]

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, engineering samples of AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ started to appear in the hands of far eastern journalists. The samples featured two cores clocked at two GHz, equal to the clock of its elder brother, X2 3800+. However, the L2 cache inside the cores was halved to 256KB and that was pretty much that.

We managed to learn that the product is actually locked in 35 Watt thermal envelope and is one of several processors labelled as "Energy Efficient Small Form Factor". As you already know, "EE" mark in AMD's calendar marks the 65 Watt thermal envelope, while the lower grades, notebook-friendly processors with 35 Watt at best -are marked as "EESFF". Very understandable, almost Gainward-like name conventions. However, AMD uses maximum TDP designation, compared to Intel's "typical TDP" - that is something many overclockers will probably end up play with.

However, the product is set for introduction with Back-to-school computers and it has appeared on several OEM pricelists. Stated at 147 dollars for a retail package product in quantities of 1000 pieces, this product will be placed in many entry-level dual-core computers. µ