Tech-Elec Fan

AMD over the past quarter has lost many of its bragging rights because of the new generation of Intel products. Now it is seeking to take back what it once had, the upper hand, by launching a new system platform that boasts two processors and is aimed at high-end users who are willing to pay top dollar for bleeding/killer/amazing performance.

A day after Intel unleashed its latest counterattack — a chip that features four processing cores on a single chip– AMD on Wednesday demonstrated 4×4, a system co-designed by Nvidia aimed at gamers and enthusiasts. This 4×4 beast can handle four PCI express slots, two Ethernet ports and support for as many as 12 hard drives. It will be available to consumers by the end of November, but of course this little guy will cost you over $1,000.

Both Intel’s quad core chip and AMD’s 4×4 platform are aimed at the extreme high end of the PC market. While that segment accounts for just 5 percent of the market, both companies see it as crucial.