In addition to releasing the low-power 55nm RS780 chipset AMD has also brought forward another energy efficient pile 'o transistors under the name of Athlon X2 4850e. The new dual-core CPU is based on the Brisbane core, manufactured using the 65nm process and it is clocked at 2.5 GHz.

Equipped with 1MB of L2 cache the X2 4850e has a TDP of just 45W and will hit the stores soon at prices around $89. The processor is be based on 65 nm core stepping G2 - stamped ADH4850IAA5DO. Each of two cores is equipped with 512 KB cache in the second level, TDP level does not exceed 45 W. The chip's predecessor, the dual-core Athlon X2 4800 came with a thermal power design of 65 watts. However, AMD's newest dual-core offering, the 4850E packs identical specifications as the 4800, while consuming less power. The default specifications for the two processors are a default clock speed of 2.5 GHz, 1MB of total dedicated L2 cache and a 2000-MHz HyperTransport bus.

While we won't cover it in the article, the processor is quite an overclocker .. we overclocked this to roughly 3 GHz by increasing the stock voltage on the 780G chipset, so this chipset is also an excellent overclocker.

• Processor: energy efficient AMD Athlon™ X2 4850e dual-core processor
• OPN: ADH4850IAA5DO
• CPU Core Count: 2
• Operating Frequency: 2.5GHz
• L1 Cache Size: 64K - L1 instruction + 64K - L1 data cache per-core (256KB total L1)
• L2 Cache Size: 512KB L2 data cache per-core (1MB total dedicated L2 cache)
• Manufactured: Fab 36 / Dresden, Germany
• Process Technology: 65-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
• Packaging: Socket AM2 (940-pin organic micro PGA)
• HyperTransport Spec: One 16-bit/16-bit link @ 2.0GHz (1GHz DDR) full duplex (up to 8.0 GB/sec bandwidth)
• Memory Controller: One integrated 128-bit dual-channel memory controller (up to 12.8GB/sec bandwidth)
• Supported Memory Speeds: DDR 2 memory up to and including PC2 6400 (DDR2-800) unbuffered
• Total Processor bandwidth: Up to 20.8 GB/sec
• Approximate Transistor count: 221 million
• Approximate Die Size: 118 mm2
• Nominal Voltage: 1.15/1.20/1.25 V
• Max Thermal Power: 45W
• Max Ambient Case Temp: 78o Celsius
• Max Processor Current: 36.5 A
• Min P-State (power management): 1.0 GHz
• Nominal Voltage @ min P-state: 1.0 V
• Max Thermal Power @ min P-state: 18.1 W
• Max Current @ min P-state: 15.1A