Gaming on a Budget: A Review of Low Cost CPUs

"Indeed, game performance is what this article is all about. Up until now, AMD's Phenom II X4 and Athlon II X3/X4 processors have vigorously defended their status as value-packed engines in inexpensive gaming systems using sub-$200 price tags. Between June of last year and now, we've seen AMD add a couple hundred megahertz to each price point. Yes, we like more performance without a corresponding rate-hike. But the company is competing with architectural updates that make a far more profound impact on performance."

It looks like AMD might have some challenges ahead of itself.  With the release of Sandy Bridge, Intel has some low cost CPUs that appear to compete fairly well against AMD's budget options.  This just happens to coincide with AMD now being able to offer a comparable, if not better product to Intel's Atom line of CPUs.  Fortunately, there is time and room for AMD to fashion a counter-attack and all the while, it serves to keep PC gaming alive for those with limited funds.