AMD Turion 64 Chip

Intel is the dominent laptop chip maker. However, AMD is ready to challenge Intel with the AMD Turion 64 processor.

The Turion CPU is AMD’s answer for the wildly successful Pentium Centrino CPU. The company has focused on the desktop and server markets in the past, neglecting to compete with Intel in the notebook arena. Performance should rival the Intel Centrino chip. However, the Turion is a 64-bit chip (vs Centrino’s 32-bit) that should provide improved performance for future applications like Microsoft’s upcoming Windows iteration, Vista.

Rumors claim AMD is planning on launching a dual-core Turion mobile chip in 2006. But the company is keeping a tight seal on dual-core details.

For detailed tech specs, check out Tom’s Hardware Guide.