AMD ratchets up mobile chip speeds

John G. Spooner CNet

Published: 31 Jan 2002 07:31 GMT

Advanced Micro Devices is offering more oomph for low-priced notebooks with two new mobile Duron chips.

The chipmaker on Wednesday introduced new mobile Duron chips clocking in at 1.1GHz and 1.2GHz.

The new chips, which use technology from AMD's Athlon line of processors, match new mobile Celeron products from Intel, launched earlier this month. However, the Duron line offers power management features not present in those Intel chips.

The Durons include AMD's PowerNow technology, which allows the chips to scale down in clock frequency and voltage to decrease power consumption and extend battery life. Intel has a similar technology called SpeedStep, but does not offer it on mobile Celeron chips.

The mobile processors are an important element of the company's market share strategy. The chipmaker accounted for about 25 percent of the US retail notebook market last December, according to NPD Intelect, a company that tracks retail sales in technology. AMD has said its goal is to capture 50 percent of the market.

AMD said it expects new notebooks with the 1.1GHz and 1.2GHz chips soon from brand-name manufacturers. The chips will power notebooks that start in the $900 to $1,000 price range.

The chips themselves list for $130 and $160, respectively.

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