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Kuma is alive and kicking
There was a lot of speculation on AMD's dual-core Phenom CPUs, codenamed Kuma, which were slated for a late Q2 launch. Back in June the industry was abuzz with talk of AMD's inability to launch Kuma at 65nm. There was very little room for it to coexist with cheap Athlon X2 and Phenom X3 CPUs and it simply seemed that it wasn't worth the bother.
As we said, the parts were originally planned for launch in late Q2, however, the launch was postponed time and time again and punters were left wondering if the dual-core Phenom was ever going to be launched at 65nm. Well, AMD might be a couple of months late, but Kuma seems to be just around the corner, we managed to find three Kumas listed.
All three are part of AMD's energy efficient CPU series, branded Phenom X2 GE-6600, 6500 and 6400. Obviously, the 6600 is the fastest of the lot and ends up clocked at 2.3GHz, while the 6500 and 6400 run at 2.1 and 1.9GHz, respectively. All have a very low TDP of just 45W, making them an interesting choice for many users, especially when paired up with a 780G or 790GX board.
There's just one downside: there are no prices or availability dates to be found yet and information is very sketchy at the moment. However, if you look at Phenom X3 and X4 pricing, at least it's easy to make an educated guess. A 2.3GHz tri core costs €100, a 2.3GHz quad Phenom is priced at €139, so the 6600 dual core should probably end up well around the €70 mark. The lower clocked Kumas should retail in the 50-70 euro region, making them an tempting alternative to Athlon X2 CPUs.
We were expecting dual-core Phenoms a bit later, when AMD gets the hang of 45nm, but it seems it will launch Kuma on 65nm after all, albeit a modestly clocked energy efficient version. We will try to find out more about the availability dates and prices, so stay tuned.
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PC Hardware
Phenom X2 listed, sort of
Kuma is alive and kicking
There was a lot of speculation on AMD's dual-core Phenom CPUs, codenamed Kuma, which were slated for a late Q2 launch. Back in June the industry was abuzz with talk of AMD's inability to launch Kuma at 65nm. There was very little room for it to coexist with cheap Athlon X2 and Phenom X3 CPUs and it simply seemed that it wasn't worth the bother.
As we said, the parts were originally planned for launch in late Q2, however, the launch was postponed time and time again and punters were left wondering if the dual-core Phenom was ever going to be launched at 65nm. Well, AMD might be a couple of months late, but Kuma seems to be just around the corner, we managed to find three Kumas listed.
All three are part of AMD's energy efficient CPU series, branded Phenom X2 GE-6600, 6500 and 6400. Obviously, the 6600 is the fastest of the lot and ends up clocked at 2.3GHz, while the 6500 and 6400 run at 2.1 and 1.9GHz, respectively. All have a very low TDP of just 45W, making them an interesting choice for many users, especially when paired up with a 780G or 790GX board.
There's just one downside: there are no prices or availability dates to be found yet and information is very sketchy at the moment. However, if you look at Phenom X3 and X4 pricing, at least it's easy to make an educated guess. A 2.3GHz tri core costs €100, a 2.3GHz quad Phenom is priced at €139, so the 6600 dual core should probably end up well around the €70 mark. The lower clocked Kumas should retail in the 50-70 euro region, making them an tempting alternative to Athlon X2 CPUs.
We were expecting dual-core Phenoms a bit later, when AMD gets the hang of 45nm, but it seems it will launch Kuma on 65nm after all, albeit a modestly clocked energy efficient version. We will try to find out more about the availability dates and prices, so stay tuned.