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Amid the countdown to the launch of its highest-performing processor yet, Advanced Micro Devices has quietly released three Duron chips for low-end desktops aimed at price-conscious buyers.

AMD had said in 2002 that it planned to phase out the Duron chip, and the company hasn't released a new Duron for desktops since January 2002. But customers in emerging markets such as China, Latin America, and Eastern Europe are looking for cheap PCs, and Duron chips are in demand from system builders, an AMD spokesperson says.

The chip company has released three versions of the chip: the 1.4-GHz, 1.6-GHz, and 1.8-GHz models. The new Durons are built on a new core with a 266-MHz frontside bus, an improvement over the 200-MHz frontside bus in older Durons. In addition, the chip was built on AMD's 130-nanometer process technology, while older Durons were built on 180-nanometer process technology.

Other Chip Plans

AMD plans to make the chips available through systems builders worldwide, but most of the demand will come from emerging markets, the spokesperson says. The new Durons will be available only in quantities of 1000 processors through distributors such as Avnet.

Pricing for the new Durons is available solely through Avnet, the AMD representative adds. When asked, an Avnet spokesperson did not have pricing information immediately available.

AMD is expected to launch the Athlon 64 processor on September 23. One of the first 64-bit processors released for desktops, the Athlon 64 will be sold to a very different group of users than the Durons.

Only high-end gamers and some workstation users are expected to make use of the Athlon 64 right away, as not many operating systems or applications are available that can take advantage of the processor's 64-bit capabilities.

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