News
        
        AMD Unveils New Dual-Core Chips
        
        
        
        Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel Corp.'s biggest rival in the market for 
  microprocessors that act as the brains of personal computers, unveiled plans 
  for new products it said would deliver improved performance and efficiency. 
Executives disclosed details of a mobile-PC chip design that boosts power efficiency 
  by allowing parts of the processor to turn on and off as needed.
The resulting product, part of AMD's Turion family, will offer two processors 
  on a single chip and a new mechanism for making both of them work in concert 
  for big jobs or shutting one down when a PC is carrying out less demanding chores, 
  Phil Hester, AMD's chief technology officer, told reporters and analysts gathered 
  Thursday at the company's headquarters.
The company also revealed a design aimed at computer gamers that will allow 
  two multi-core chips to run in a single PC. With each core in essence acting 
  as its own processor, the product, code-named 4X4, will have the capability 
  to deliver a total of four computing engines.
That will make machines based on the 4X4 design better at tackling demanding 
  tasks often needed by PCs running certain types of programs, such as games and 
  video editing applications, Hester said.
AMD, once little more than an imitator of the designs of Intel, has over the 
  past three years emerged with new products that have helped it steal market 
  share from its larger rival. Intel has vowed to close the performance gap and 
  retake lost share with three new chips that will become available in the second 
  half of the year.
Analysts said the products discussed Thursday show that AMD continues to mount 
  a challenge to Intel, the world's biggest chip maker.
"They're not presenting Intel with a stationary target," said Roger 
  Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates. "It continues to 
  be a horse race."
AMD also said it planned to deliver processors with four computing engines 
  on a single chip in mid-2007 for servers and desktop computers, along with technical 
  underpinnings that will allow them to work together more efficiently.
Shares of AMD closed at $31.39, up 50 cents, in Thursday trading on the New 
  York Stock Exchange.