AMD
Although Intel has traditionally held the most market share of PC processors, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is rapidly catching up, and has taken the industry by storm as a legitimate challenger to Intel’s dominance. With many new processor models out, AMD is revolutionizing the design of 64 bit, dual core technology.

Like Intel, AMD has a line of processors that focus on notebooks and the unique challenges associated with mobile computing. Not only does the chip have to be fast enough to run today’s ever growing applications, but it also needs to keep heat under control, and use a minimum amount of power in order to conserve battery life.

The Mobile AMD Sempron competes with Intel’s Celeron D processor in the laptop computer market, and gets its name from the Latin word “semper”, which means “always”. This was chosen by the company because this processor is designed for everyday computing. Although the Sempron didn’t start out this way, it is now a 64 bit processor, which can take advantage of Windows Vista’s 64 bit mode for a greater throughput. What sets the Sempron apart from processors from other brands is its “Cool’n’Quiet” technology, which saves power and heat by reducing the clock rate (speed) and voltage when the computer is going through a period of low utilization.

The Mobile AMD Athlon 64 has this technology as well, along with more speed than the Sempron. When it was released, the Athlon was the fastest PC CPU in the world, and the latest iterations of the processor can still hold their own against the competition. The mobile version of the Athlon is just like the desktop version, except it runs at a lower voltage and speed when not being used as much.

The Turion 64 is the latest offering from AMD for mobile applications, and it too is a 64 bit processor. It is faster than the Athlon, and also utilizes the power saving technology that AMD’s other chips have. The Turion 64 is also available with a dual core, which means that it has two independent identical sections that can process different threads, or application tasks, at the same time. In the past, single core processors could only do one thing at a time, and when multiple processes or threads were executing, they had to rapidly switch back and forth between them, creating a speed bottleneck. Thanks to the dual core technology, the threads can get through the processor at twice the rate.

AMD chips can be found anywhere desktop and laptop parts, such as batteries, are available. In addition, refurbished AMD laptop processors turn up on auction sites from time to time as well.