Advanced Micro Devices introduced Thursday its new Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processor aimed at full-size notebooks, which is proclaimed today’s fastest processor for laptop computers.

“We have again raised the bar for 64-bit mobile performance with the latest addition to our powerful Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processor family. AMD is unique in delivering 64-bit mobile computing, which is available today. AMD has led the way to a brave new world where 32-bit technology will become a remnant of the past,” said Marty Seyer, corporate vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit, Computation Products Group, AMD.

The newly introduced AMD Athlon 64 3700+ functions at 2.40GHz and packs in 1MB level-two cache. The chips have thermal design power of about 62W, much less compared to the competitive offering from Intel – Intel Mobile Pentium 4 3.46GHz microprocessor – that dissipates up to 88W, but much higher compared to Intel’s Pentium M “Dothan” chips, which have TDP of about 21W.

Like all Mobile AMD64 and processors, the Mobile Athlon 64 3700+ chip sports built-in single-channel PC3200 memory controller, 64-bit capability and NX-bit security feature. The chip is made using 90nm processor technology.

Full-size notebooks are generally used as desktop replacement (DTR) machines, thus, for makers of microprocessors it is crucial to offer very high performance for processors aimed at this type of products. Yet, the chips should still have lower power consumption compared to desktop processors which are used desktops and in specially-tailored DTR notebooks.

The Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processor 3700+ for full-size notebooks is available immediately worldwide and is priced at $336 in 1000-unit quantities. Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processors are now available in models 3700+, 3400+, 3200+, 3000+ and 2800+.