There is an AMD FX processor for all budgets here, and the top of the range FX-8150 with its $245 price tag is $55 cheaper than the Core i7-2600. According to AMD the both are very similar in benchmark tests, but they would say that. The base speed of said CPU is 3.6GHz, and according to Engadget can be over-clocked to 4.8GHz, which to us is astonishing.

Those of you with an AM3+ motherboard will need to do some research first to see what they should upgrade to. There are so many factors involved, and it is not always down to money. Why would you want to pay a huge amount of money for a certain AMD FX CPU, if you will never use it to its full potential?

From the seven different models, there will be three different variants, 8-cores, 6-cores and 4-cores. The former two will be here in days, but there is no confirmed release date for the latter model. If you are a gamer then you will want to go with the eight-core option, but if you are not, then the six-core should suffice.

Take a look at this AMD FX CPU lineup chart to make your choice.

The Guardian reports that Sandy Bridge was launched in January and what was thought to be a great design has now turned into a disaster for Intel. Some of us would have not noticed the flaws right away, but the chipmaker said that they would have appeared over time, which would have affected how it connects to DVD and hard drives.

As mentioned above the PC industry has already seen a downturn in growth, and with 500 models now facing production issues we could see a few smaller companies having real hardships. We do not know what they will do about this, maybe that might even consider a shift to AMD? However, a move like this is not as easy as one would assume.

An issue like this does not come around very often, but when it does it is considered to be a complete embarrassment. We say this because you have to wonder how such a flaw can happen in the first place? However, this is not the first time that such a thing happens, and will not be the last time either. Here is a list of all affected models, we just hope that the issue is sorted so that Sandy Bridge can be included in the MacBook Air 2011 refresh.

If what TechTree say is true, then this will be a significant upgrade to the current chip. It is also believed that the new dual-core processor will have PowerVR SGX543 graphics built-in as well. However, the only issue we see is a huge drain on the battery – we know that the iPhone has never been that kind to its battery.

Image thanks to Handyflash.

This is not a new rumor, as it was assumed that the A8 SoC would be in the current iPhone, but having it in the fifth-generation seems more plausible this time round, as there are a number of Android handsets that will be packing a dual-core processor this year – such as the Atrix from Motorola.

eWeek not only believes this processor upgrade to be true, they also expect that the new iPhone 5 will have a total redesign. If this is true, then the question that we asked in a recent post about purchasing the Verizon iPhone or waiting for the fifth-generation looks to be going the way of the latter – would you not agree? A total redesign does seem plausible, especially since we learned that the iPad 2 and the iPhone 5 might not have a Home Button this time round.

Do you think that the iPhone 5 will get a processor upgrade?

Once you have the gift card you just have to download an application from Intel, this will then unlock certain features in the processor. The new program from Intel is called “down-the-wire hardware upgrades”.

Lawrence Latif from The Inquirer explains that for just $50 you can gain access to Hyperthreading or Level 2 cache. This will certainly have mixed reactions, but it is no secret that most users will not like the idea of having the true potential of their CPU locked.

The gift cards will only be used for low-end Intel processors, such as the Core i3 chip. Do you agree with this latest move, or do you think it is another way for Intel to make money by doing nothing?