Advanced Micro Devices has released its new processor designed for powerful desktop-replacement portable computers. The company said the new chip is the most powerful microprocessor in its class, furthermore, it sports 64-bit capability and security protection.

AMD’s Mobile Athlon 64 microprocessors for desktop-replacement notebooks are compatible with Socket 754 infrastructure for mobile computers and have thermal design power of 81.5W. The latest AMD Mobile Athlon 64 for DTR notebooks – model number 3700+ - integrates 1MB of L2 cache, single-channel PC3200 memory controller and operates at 2.40GHz.

“AMD has again raised the bar for notebook performance, giving consumers and business professionals even more power at their fingertips, plus added security with Enhanced Virus Protection enabled by Windows XP SP2,” said Marty Seyer, corporate vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit, Computation Products Group, AMD.

Sunnyvale, California-based Advanced Micro Devices also supplies AMD Mobile Athlon 64 processors with TDP of 62W, AMD Mobile Athlon 64 Low Power chips with 35W thermal design power as well as plans to supply microprocessors with 25W power consumption.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker and AMD’s arch-rival, also supplies processors for desktop-replacement notebooks. Thermal design power (TDP) of the latest Mobile Pentium 4 processors based on 90nm core code-named Prescott at the speeds of 2.80GHz, 3.06GHz and 3.20GHz is 88W. Intel also tells notebook makers that future direction of TDP is 94W, seriously more compared to 76W thermal design power of previous generation Mobile Pentium 4 chips produced using 130nm process technology.

The AMD Athlon 64 processor 3700+ for desktop-replacement notebooks is priced at $500 in 1000 unit quantities. HP and VoodooPC are among the first suppliers to offer notebooks based on the new AMD Athlon 64 processor 3700+ for desktop-replacement notebooks.