AMD, on the brink of making a start with its first desktop CPUs made on the 45nm manufacturing process, seems to have updated time-frames in which it will introduce new CPUs and manage inventories of currently available CPUs. Data compiled by DigiTimes from sources in the motherboard manufacturing industry points towards the following in 2009:

• The introduction of four new SKUs in the months of April, that include Athlon X4 (Propus core) 615 and 605, Athlon X3 (Rana core) 420 and 410, followed by Athlon X2 (Regor core) 240 and 235 in June
• Last orders for Phenom X4 9850 and 9950 (140W) to be taken in March, Phenom X4 9750, 9850 (95W) and 9950 (125W) will be in June, before which Phenom II X4 920 and 940 in May (in most likelihood replaced by models 925 and 945)
• Phase-out of Phenom X3 8450 and 8550 started, that of Phenom X3 8650 in March followed by Phenom X3 8850 and 8750 in June
• Last order notice for Athlon X2 4450e to be issued in March

AMD would be releasing its 45nm silicon-based desktop CPUs, built on the Deneb, Propus, Heka, Rana and Regor cores, to bring out quad-core, triple-core and eventually dual-core processors. AMD has discarded the 5-digit number scheme that was earlier reported, and in its place, adopted a three-digit scheme. The quad-core Deneb chips get a 9xx model number and 8xx number depending on the clock-speeds and cache size, Propus-based chips get the Athlon X4 branding.

Heka-based chips get Phenom II X3 7xx branding, with Rana getting Athlon X3 4xx. Regor dual-core trails with Athlon X2 2xx. It is important to note that AMD seems to have made a critical change to the Deneb core, releasing 2 models based on cache-arrangements. The first kind features a total of 8 MB cache (4x 512K L2 + 6M L3) and one with 6 MB total cache. To learn more about the other cores, please refer to our older article getting into details (here).

Without doubt, AMD needs something revolutionary to pull it out of the mess it set itself in. AMD's first reaction to the Conroe onslaught was to lower prices and build up a "Smarter Choice" repute, though with successive price cuts from Intel and down-scale products based on the Core architecture coming out by the fortnight, and the transit to 45nm fab process, there's been an increasing need for AMD to get back to the drawing boards with their CPU division.

From what looks like an excerpt from an AMD company slide, can be seen AMD's CPU plans for 2009. The chart broadly shows that K10 architecture is here to stay. Throughout the year, desktop CPUs based on the K10 architecture feature in the roadmap, with no signs of their "truly next-gen" architecture. AMD completes its transit to the 45nm silicon fabrication process and will finally embrace DDR3 system memory standards. To begin with, the fact that the Deneb core's entry slightly steps into the 2008 column shows that the Deneb core-based desktop CPU could release sometime towards the very end of this year. Sources note that two models based on the Deneb core could be out by the end of this year. It supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards and socket compatible with current AM2+ and future AM3. From what's known so far, AM3 is the same 940 pin design that adds pins for the DDR3 memory interconnect between the CPU and the memory.