AMD revises PR ratings again
Thrax
🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
Starting some time next week, AMD will be altering the SKUs (Stock keeping units) from pointed descriptions such as "Athlon 64 X2 4000+ 45W 1MB L2 Brisbane," to the rather ambiguous "AMD BE-2400" as an example. AMD says the maneuver, which includes dropping the "64" suffix, is in order to reduce confusion about their many offerings which have, at times, overlapped.
In the new naming system the first two alphabetical characters (BE-xxxx) indicate the processor class and TDP rating. The first numeral in the model (xx-#xxx) indicates CPU series and attributes, while the remaining three digits (xx-x###) designate the speed. So far, we know that the BE-2xxx chips are <i>Brisbane</i>-based Athlon 64 X2s that use a 45w TDP.
Coinciding with the release, AMD intends to release the BE-2300, BE-2350 and BE-2400 chips. All three of them will be based on the new 65nm core, the <i>Brisbane</i>, and use a 45w thermal envelope as indicated. It remains to be seen how further chips in the new scheme will be designated.
The move is a double-edged sword: It clearly demonstrates that "Higher is better," as in the Core 2 Duo's naming system, but it cultivates ambiguity. The biggest hassle will undoubtedly be for the savvy customers and the eTailers who benefit from the verbose AMD SKUs which list core, wattage, cache and model at a glance.
In the new naming system the first two alphabetical characters (BE-xxxx) indicate the processor class and TDP rating. The first numeral in the model (xx-#xxx) indicates CPU series and attributes, while the remaining three digits (xx-x###) designate the speed. So far, we know that the BE-2xxx chips are <i>Brisbane</i>-based Athlon 64 X2s that use a 45w TDP.
Coinciding with the release, AMD intends to release the BE-2300, BE-2350 and BE-2400 chips. All three of them will be based on the new 65nm core, the <i>Brisbane</i>, and use a 45w thermal envelope as indicated. It remains to be seen how further chips in the new scheme will be designated.
The move is a double-edged sword: It clearly demonstrates that "Higher is better," as in the Core 2 Duo's naming system, but it cultivates ambiguity. The biggest hassle will undoubtedly be for the savvy customers and the eTailers who benefit from the verbose AMD SKUs which list core, wattage, cache and model at a glance.
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