Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday quietly added a new microprocessor into its lineup to offer higher performance central processing units (CPUs) to its customers. Specifications of the new chip very closely resemble those of the former top-of-the-range processor, which is why the introduction does not bring new performance heights, but just lowers the price bar for certain performance levels.

The new AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ microprocessor with two processing engines is clocked at 2.60GHz clock-speed, equipped with 2MB (1MB per core) level-two cache and features dual-channel PC2-6400 (DDR2 800MHz) built-in memory controller. The new chip is designed for socket AM2 infrastructure, should be built using 90nm silicon-on-insulator process technology and have thermal design power of 89W.

AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 5200+ has the same clock-speed and L2 cache capacity as the discontinued AMD Athlon 64 FX-60, the ex king of AMD’s hill. However, the new microprocessor is priced at $403, while the aforementioned FX product cost over $1000 in 1000-unit quantities.

The introduction of AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ processor happens as Intel Corp. is ramping up its Intel Core 2 Duo family of chips that offers generally higher performance compared to AMD’s dual-core CPUs and Intel’s massive price reductions on the previous-generation microprocessors. Nevertheless, the unveiling of the new chip does not affect pricing of the remaining products, still it is launched at a substantially lower price tag compared to previous flagship Athlon 64 X2 processors.

AMD did not unveil any official statements on the matter, however, it is known that the company demonstrated the new processor at an event with computer maker HP.