AMD has announced what it describes as the “World’s Ultimate PC Processor For 3D Games”.

However, the price performance characteristics of the new chip don’t stack up too well for anything other than serious gaming.
Available immediately, the Athlon 64 FX-57 processor, the world’s ultimate PC processor for enthusiasts and hard-core gamers, says AMD.

The high-performance single core processor is optimised for single threaded 3D gaming and contrasts AMDs most recent dual-core CPU the Athlon 64 X2 which delivers up to 80 per cent performance improvement (for digital media and productivity apps) over a single core processor. The 64 FX-57 is only a 7 per cent improvement over its predecessor the FX 55. The 90 nm chip is clocked at 2.8GHz and has 1MB L2 cache.

AMD plans to introduce a dual-core version of the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor when multi-threaded software games are available to take advantage of its benefits.
“AMD recognizes that today’s games are single-threaded. Users who crave the absolute best performance on 3D games and extreme applications can experience realistic physics and lighting, as well as gripping artificial intelligence and sound, with the single-core AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Business, Microprocessor Solutions Sector (MSS), AMD.

Rob Enderle, principal analyst for The Enderle Group said: “The AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor is the highest performing single-core processor in the consumer market and I believe that at least for the next 18 months, it is this single-core performance that will be most important to the most competitive players of PC games”.

Speed comes at a price though. With a volume price of more than US$1000 this chip is for serious gamers.