While Intel is off dominating the high-end side of the CPU market, AMD has traditionally positioned itself as the CPU/APU maker for those looking to spend a little less on their systems. With that in mind, AMD made an announcement that’s aimed at areas that could be potentially attractive markets for affordable PC processors. Enter AMD’s new AM1 platform, which has a sub-$100 entry level price tag.
AMD hopes to reach developing regions and other budget markets with its new AM1 platform, which will deliver inexpensive desktop processors based on the company’s Kabini architecture. The AM1 accelerated processing units (APUs) will combine AMD’s Graphics Core Next graphics processing with its Jaguar CPUs under the Athlon and Sempron brand names. The APUs will consist of up to four Jaguar cores and will work with up to 16GB of RAM. A number of motherboard manufacturers will be supporting the platform using the FS1b socket, including Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI.