AMD today unveiled a top-to-bottom energy efficient AMD desktop processor roadmap at the In-Stat Spring Processor Forum. AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core, AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Sempron processors are built upon AMD's performance-per-watt concept.

Energy efficient AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core, AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Sempron processors, based on the upcoming socket AM2, are designed to provide for new freedoms in PC form factor design by offering performance-per-watt advantages over standard processors for commercial and consumer markets. Energy?efficient computing is a crucial step for the computing industry as large businesses seek to reduce operating costs.

Building on AMD?s success in the blade and general purpose server markets with the AMD Opteron processor, energy efficient AMD desktop processors can deliver greater performance-per-watt over standard power AMD desktop processors and can reduce overall power consumption. For instance, energy efficient AMD desktop processors can provide up to 37 percent greater performance-per-watt than standard power AMD processors, while energy efficient small form factor AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core desktop processors can provide up to 154 percent greater performance-per-watt than standard power AMD desktop processors. When running typical workloads, as reflected in the SYSmark 2004 SE benchmark, end users could experience their energy efficient dual-core processor consuming 14 watts, according to AMD.

The initial energy efficient desktop processor model numbers include AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core, AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Sempron processors. These new desktop processors are slated for availability in May. AMD also announced pricing for these processors: Energy Efficient Desktop Processors++: AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors 4800+ ($671), 4600+ ($601), 4400+ ($514), 4200+ ($417), 4000+ ($353) and 3800+ ($323). Energy Efficient Small Form Factor Desktop Processors+++: AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor 3800+ ($364), AMD Athlon 64 processors 3500+ ($231), and AMD Sempron processors 3400+ ($145), 3200+ ($119) and 3000+ ($101).

Rival chip maker Intel will also launch a new architecture in the third quarter of this year to cut power consumption of its processors in half.