It used to be that a PC hardware enthusiast could buy the most powerful processor for his or her rig just by getting the one with the highest clock speed. That"s no longer the case as new PC chips are more about additional cores and threads. This weekend, a new rumor claims that AMD might decide to enter the clock speed wars again.
Hexus.net reports via unnamed sources that AMD is planning to launch a new member of its FX processor line that has the code name "Centurion." The article claims that it is based on the Vishera architecture and that only a limited number of these new Centurion chips will be made. While AMD"s FX-8350 PC processor can run up to 4.2 GHz, the Centurion is supposed to run with a clock speed of 5 GHz. That"s not only well beyond AMD"s current fastest chip, it"s also much faster than Intel"s most powerful Core i7 processor, which only goes up to 3.9 GHz.
The article also claims that the price of this super-fast AMD chip will be $795. While that"s on the high end, it"s also pretty reasonable for a chip that has such a fast clock speed that"s also supposed to be limited in number.
While clock speed isn"t everything in a PC chip these days, there is something to be said about having the speed king bragging rights to a processor. It"s possible AMD could launch the Centurion as a way to spoil the launch of Intel"s Haswell lineup of Core processors in June.
Source: Hexus.net | Image via AMD