Despite strict competition from Intel, AMD managed to gain market share in Q3. In Q3 2007, Intel sold 76.2% of all processors, AMD sold 23.3%, and everything else went to other manufacturers such as VIA. AMD processors got said market share from companies such as VIA and Transmeta, according to Mercury Research. Intel market share has remained somewhat flat over the past couple quarters. According to analysts, "Clearly, there are a lot of different dynamics to what is going on in the market. There is really strong consumer demand and there are some indications that we might be at the beginning of a corporate refresh cycle". Hence, AMD may be releasing the Phenom/Barcelona processors at an opportune time. Mercury research also discovered that laptop/server usage went up by 15%, and the mobile market segment experienced a 26% sequential growth this past quarter.

Some good news for all future AMD Phenom owners. AMD is developing a software called "AMD Overdrive". Just like nTune, it can adjust different CPU system parameters. The software utility can also change the multiplayer of each core on the fly.

Regardless of theoretical performance, the upcoming AMD RD790 and Athlon 64 Black Edition line of processors certainly are overclockable and feature-laden. On nothing but air cooling, MSI testers were able to get an RD790 chipset to a remarkable 510MHz FSB speed. Once the RD790 is released with PCI Express 2, CrossFire X, and support for goodies such as Phenom, we will see one seriously good platform.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding both the AMD Phenom X4 and the AMD RD790. Testers combined both, violated a couple NDAs, and pitted them against current offerings from Intel in one of the most stressing games of all time: Crysis. The chart, if true, speaks for itself...

As predicted by analysts earlier, AMD will indeed be releasing the RV670 graphics chips on November 19th. However, even now, the market branding of the card remains unknown. While some say it will be the HD 2950 series, others say it will be the HD 3800. Regardless of what it will be called, AMD will be releasing two versions. The first, codenamed "Gladiator" will run at a core clock of 825MHz, and have an undetermined quantity of 2.4GHz GDDR4 memory. "Revival" will run at a core clock of 750MHz, have the same GDDR4 memory, but will be clocked at 1.8GHz.

While the NVIDIA 8800GT may be getting a lot of press, AMD refuses to let itself be forgotten about. Leaked documents show that the RV670 (HD 3800 series) will be well worth the wait for it. While people hear that the RV670 will be PCI Express 2 and DX10.1 compatible, have Unified Video Decoder (UVD), and be 55nm, this doesn't really amount to much if people have no idea what the benefits are from any of that. And so, this leaked document shows one of the many goodies waiting for potential RV670 customers, via a "global illumination" demo. The image on the left is rendered with DX10.1, and the one on the right is rendered with DX10.0. Vista SP1 will be built on the DirectX10.1 architecture.

Although AMD has launched the Black Edition Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU with an unlocked multiplier, some motherboard makers are taking a conservative view over whether the CPU will help win back market share. Although it is available for about $130, motherboard makers have no plans to adjust their current shipment proportions since they do not think the Black Edition CPUs will lead to any increase in demand for AMD motherboards. Currently, motherboard makers are putting their hopes on AMD's next-generation Phenom processors, but even so, they are not expecting to see any real boost in demand for a couple of months. AMD will launch the first Phenom-based CPUs on November 20th this year.

Codenames and features of the tri-core CPUs AMD is planning to launch next year and in 2009 have been revealed. Codenamed Toliman the first tri-core CPUs will adopt a 65nm process, support socket AM2+ motherboards and HyperTransport 3.0. The CPUs will have 2MB L3 cache and will be launched by the end of March 2008. The next-generation, 45nm-based CPUs will adopt socket AM3, support HyperTransport 3.0 and DDR2/DDR3 memory, and will launch in first half of 2009.

Today AMD provided more details and a specific design example of the DTX small form-factor standard. Back in January of this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, AMD first revealed their plans for the DTX open industry standard for small form factor computers. This HotHardware article showcases a prototype system built on a low power AMD Athlon 64 BE-2350 processor and 690G chipset motherboard with integrated graphics.

AMD recently admitted that it was not quite prepared when they launched quad-core processors earlier this year. Even after the delays, there simply were not enough AMD quad core offerings to go around. And so, to make up for that, they've announced that they're going to make a lot more quad core processors this quarter. The official statement by AMD:

While our initial production ramp of quad-core Opterons has been slower than anticipated, we expect quad-core Opteron will be widely available by the middle of this quarter; and, we expect to ship hundreds of thousands of quad-core processors this quarter into the server and desktop segments.

AMD today reported third quarter 2007 revenue of $1.632 billion, an 18 percent increase compared to the second quarter of 2007 and a 23 percent improvement compared to the third quarter of 2006. In the third quarter, AMD reported an operating loss of $226 million, and a net loss of $396 million, or $0.71 per share. Third quarter results include a negative impact of $120 million, or $0.22 per share, due to ATI acquisition-related, integration and severance charges and impairment of assets. In the second quarter of 2007, AMD reported revenue of $1.378 billion and an operating loss of $457 million. In the third quarter of 2006, AMD reported revenue of $1.328 billion and operating income of $121 million.

Advanced Micro Devices has confirmed that they will shutdown their 90nm Fab30 plant in Dresden, Germany, by the end of the year. Fab30 will be closed to allow for retooling and will open at a later date as Fab38, AMD's second 300mm production plant.

Dirk Meyer, AMD's chief technical officer, indicated during their Q3 conference call that Fab 36 is currently manufacturing 45nm processors. Meyer says AMD's first 45nm processor line-up will be server and desktop based and that they will be on track for production ramp in the first half of 2008. Basic yields are being attained right now at 45nm using existing materials.

While ATI CrossFire technology was introduced in early 2005, delays and the wide adoption of NVIDIA SLI platforms prevented CrossFire from really catching on. AMD hopes to change that by introducing a little ace-in-the-hole that's currently nicknamed 'CrossFire X'. The CrossFire X initiative aims to increase scalability, performance, reliability, and flexibility of CrossFire platforms with the help of the AMD 790 chipsets, PCI Express 2, and new graphics cards. The most noticeable things CrossFire X will do are listed below.

• 3/4 way CrossFire
• Allow for two or more completely different cards to be combined under the same CrossFire Platform
• CrossFire Overdrive, which allows for the dramatic increase of graphics clocks across a CrossFire platform, regardless of how many cards said platform may consist of.
• CrossFire Hybrid, which allows for the combination of integrated/onboard graphics and graphics card rendering, disabling the latter when it is not needed to reduce power consumption.

AMD is expanding its TV Wonder product lineup that enables HDTV on the PC. Available through VisionTek at Best Buy stores across North America, ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, TV Wonder 600 PCI and TV Wonder 600 PCI Express transform PCs into exceptional high definition digital video recorders. The TV Wonder family of products is AMD LIVE! Ready and Certified for Windows Vista -- delivering The Ultimate Visual Experience and strengthening the value of multimedia PCs.

AMD has confirmed the model names and clock speeds of the upcoming quad-core Phenom processors and plans to launch them as scheduled in November/December while Phenom FX will be launched in Q1 next year. AMD will also add higher clocked Phenom FX and Phenom quad-core processors in Q2 next year.

As part of its commitment to supporting and contributing to open standards, AMD today announced its participation in the Eclipse Foundation. AMD will add its rich expertise and history of collaborative innovation to the Eclipse community, helping to drive the standardization of an extensible development platform and application frameworks that can harness the power of x86 architectures and multi-core processing. AMD made the announcement in conjunction with Eclipse Summit Europe 2007, taking place Oct. 9 - 11 in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

AMD launched on Monday six new 45-watt versions of its desktop Athlon, Athlon X2 and Sempron families. The new 45-watt chips are identified by an LE prefix; the X2 version uses a BE designation.

• AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 (2.3GHz/45W) - $104;
• AMD Athlon LE-1620 (2.4GHz/45W) - $53
• AMD Athlon LE-1600 (2.2GHz/45W) - $47
• AMD Sempron LE-1250 (2.2GHz/45W) - $53
• AMD Sempron LE-1200 (2.1GHz/45W) - $48
• AMD Sempron LE-1100 (1.9GHz/45W) - $37

This listing reflects pricing for direct AMD customers in 1000-unit tray quantities

AMD has announced price reductions of its single-core Athlon 64 and dual-core Athlon 64 X2 CPUs for desktop platforms and has added a new Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition to its lineup. The price cuts range from 5% to 28%. Pricing for 1000-unit tray quantities:

MSI just announced the launch of a new mainboard aimed at high performance desktop computer systems that are compatible with the latest AMD AM2+ processors. As the new line of dual and quad core AMD CPUs is due to hit the market soon, MSI prepares its own line of compatible mainboards with the first RD790 powered K9A2 Platinum motherboard in front. This new MSI product supports all current AM2 CPUs as well as the AM2+ Phenom X4, X2 and X3 CPUs that will be released in the coming months. The K9A2 Platinum comes with four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, support for 800/1066MHz DDR2 memory and HyperTransport 3.0. In addition to featuring a new copper-constructed Circu-Pipe cooling solution as seen on the pictures below this board has integrated 7.1 channel audio, 5 phase PWM design, one Gigabit LAN, 6x SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors, 10x USB 2.0 ports, 2x IEEE1394 connectors and MSI's Dual CoreCell technology.

Part of AMD's marketing plan is to make creative, enticing names for their products. For one of their low-energy models, AMD's marketing department did a fine job creating a very memorable CPU core code-name: Sparta. For the low price of $46 shipped, you can have your very own Spartan computer part. This product offers more than an awesome name, however. The value-oriented part is built on a 65nm micro-architecture, requires only an impressive 45W of energy to run, runs at 1.9GHz with an FSB speed of 800MHz, has an L1 cache of 64KB+64KB, and an L2 cache of 256KB. Anyone hoping to own an AMD Sempron LE-1100 should follow the source link..

Fortunately for anybody considering an upgrade to AMD AM2 processors, AMD will be slashing prices on their Athlon 64 processors. Just some examples of price cuts we'll be seeing...

The Athlon 64 X2 5000+ currently costs $119, and will soon cost $109USD.

The Athlon 64 X2 5200+ currently costs $124, and will soon cost $119USD

The Athlon 64 X2 5600+ currently costs $149, and will soon cost $139USD.

When AMD first released the 5000+ version of the Black Edition series of processors, it seemed pretty unimpressive. However, the Black Edition processors are a lot like the old FX processors: they come with an unlocked multiplier, and are hand-picked for overclocking. And so, while the Black Edition processors may not be the best at stock clocks, they certainly are good at overclocking. Just as an example, a Chinese overclocker was able to push his 5000+ Black Edition to a respectable 3.5GHz on stock cooling.

When gamers heard that the original R600 had a TDP of over 200W, gamers who wanted to play at respectable resolutions and settings went out and bought new power supplies capable of handling such a load, and dealt with the noise that comes with dissipating such a high TDP. Fortunately, these problems are not going to be associated with the RV670, AMD's next high-end graphics card. The RV670XT has a TDP of 132W, and the RV670Pro boasts a modest 104W TDP. Hopefully, these lower heat yields will allow for a quieter cooling solution for these cards. AMD attributes these lower TDPs to a 55nm manufacturing process.

In a recent interview with EWeek, Henri Richard was quoted as saying that leaving AMD any later than he did would have made him look terrible, and would have gotten him a lot of bad press. Richard instead chose to leave AMD while it entered what he thought was a strong Christmas/2008 season. Henri Richard is currently working at a company called Freescale.