The Athlon XP processor will most probably be launched this coming Tuesday, it remains however, an extremely demanding task to figure out the price of each new model and its real clock speed.
As usual AMD will not comment on an unannounced product and, as usual, this means that the web is again infested with Athlon XP sightings and rumours.
In order to put the record straight then, we have attempted to distill the various stories, which can be found everywhere.
The Athlon XP, based on the Palomino core, will run on less power than its predecessors, thus avoiding what has up to now been AMD's weakest point, overheating.
The new processor range will almost certainly include the 1500+, 1700+ and the 1800+ models. The numbers designated to each model however, do not indicate each processors clock speed. In a bizzare attempt to change the publics all consuming clock speed hunger, AMD have decided to name their processors based on how well they fare against Intels models. So the 1800+ performs just as well as Intels 1.8 GHz model or, as the + implies, maybe even better. It seems pretty ridiculous to follow such a tactic since most consumers will buy the 1800+ thinking that the number indicates clock speed.
The real clock speed and expected prices of the new processors are:
Athlon XP 1500+ (1.33 GHz) (USD 145 - 155)
Athlon XP 1700+ (1.46 GHz) (N/A)
Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53 GHz) (USD 245 - 255)