AMD readies tri-core, quad-core Phenom mobile CPUs for Acer, Dell laptops

AMD has done itself no favors in the mobile market by taking so long to introduce some next-generation processors to compete with Intel's Core offerings. But it appears that the second-place chip company is ready to rumble in the laptop space, readying tri-core and quad-core Phenom II CPUs that could provide serious competition and recoup some market share.

Fudzilla has unearthed a handful of systems from top-tier vendors Acer and Dell that will be available with a Phenom II X4 N930 quad-core processor running at 2GHz. These include the Dell Inspiron M501R (pictured) and the Acer Aspire 5553G, both 15-inch models, as well as the 17-inch Aspire 7551G. While there's no pricing information (or release date) available on the Dell, the Aspire 5553G is being listed at 764 euros ($993) when it's released overseas in the next few weeks, which puts it on par price-wise with laptops using Intel's Core i7-720QM quad-core processor.

Then Fudzilla reported that Acer will also offer the triple-core Phenom X3 N830 running at 2.1GHz for notebooks at an even lower price point. Getting names like Acer and Dell onboard early is a promising sign for AMD's chances with these Phenoms, which may not provide the performance or power efficiency of their Intel counterparts, but could very well usher mainstream laptops beyond the dual-core point. They should also help AMD continue chipping away at the very healthy advantage Intel has in market dominance.