Back in June, AMD announced that they would be making a more power-efficient version of their Brisbane core CPUs available. Now, they are reaching retail shelves and can be purchased. In terms of performance, they are the same as the existing CPUs, but carry a very nice power envelope at only 45W.

These CPUs still use the 65nm process, but operate at only 1.25V, whereas some Brisbanes use 1.35V. Other architectural changes make the power drop possible, from the existing 65W. While this certainly isn't as exciting as the release of Barcelona will be, it's cool to see. The new CPUs are retailing for under $100 each, with the X2 BE-2300 coming in at under $90.