AMD launches triple- and quad-core notebook CPUs

Playing catch-up with Intel, AMD has announced its first triple-core and quad-core laptop processors as part of a major brand overhaul.The lineup includes two triple-core and three quad-core Phenom II chips running at between 1.6GHz and 2.3GHz and drawing between 25 and 45W.

There are also new single-core and dual-core low-voltage http://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/platforms/home/2010- Athlon II Neo and Turion II Neo processors designed for ultrathin laptops; running at speeds between

1.3GHz and 1.7GHz, they draw between 12 and 15W. These are aimed at laptops with screens between 11 and 13 inches and measuring less than 25mm thick.

The chips are expected to appear in over 100 different products from vendors including HP, Dell and Lenovo, starting from the end of this month.

Emulating Intel's Core range, the processors include DDR3 memory, HyperTransport 3, support for Direct X 11 and improved battery life. They don't, however, include AMD's TurboCore technology.

The company is also changing its marketing. It's extending its Vision branding - which segments products into four levels by performance - to include desktop systems.

"With Vision Technology from AMD, we are finally connecting how people use their PCs with the way people purchase them," said senior vice president and chief marketing officer Nigel Dessau.

"Today, after little more than 200 days in market, our partners are introducing more Vision-based PCs than ever before; a testament to both the competitiveness of AMD platform technology and the simplified marketing approach."

AMD has failed to make ground against Intel's dominance, with just 18.8 percent of the X86 market in the first quarter of this year, compared with Intel's 81 percent, according to IDC.