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And they are still behind Intel. AMD today released five more chips based on the 45nm manufacturing process including the first ever 3 core CPU at that size. The results are overall pleasing to the reviewers but still leaves a bit to be desired as they are still behind Intel in performance. The upside is that they are good for overclocking and cheaper overall. They could be appealing for budget gamers and those looking for a decent CPU for a nice price. Check out the links below for reviews and the official announcement.

Review: HotHardware

Review: DesktopReview

Official Announcement: AMD

Before the chips were even released to retail, AMD has gone ahead and dropped the price on them. Both the Phenom II X4 940 and 920 represent the ‘Dragon’ line of chips and AMD’s first venture into the 45nm die process for highend desktop chips. More chips on the 45nm process will arrive later in 2009 for consumer desktops and notebooks. The new chips will drop about 18% to $225 and $195 for the 940 and 920 respectively. Intel also dropped its prices on January 18th which probably led to AMD dropping theirs to stay competitive. The news overall is not good however, with AMD expected to release its lower Q4 2008 numbers and cut 1,100 more jobs as computer shipments are down considerably and not expected to recover until 2010.

Full Article: eweek