SlashGear

AMD have announced two new desktop processors, the dual-core 45nm Athlon II X2 250 and the X2 550 Black Edition, their first-ever dual-core AMD Phenom II.  The former boasts a TDP of 65W and nifty throttling to cut power consumption by as much as half when its full capabilities are not needed.  Meanwhile desktop and mobile users will soon have the option of watching worldwide HDTV no matter the broadcast standard, thanks to the AMD ATI Theater HD 750.

Video demo after the cut

The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition can be used with AMD’s OverDrive 3.0 software to easily overclock and generally tune the CPU’s performance.  It will also carry a lower price tag than existing triple- or quad-core Phenom II chips, though AMD have not revealed specific pricing.

As for the ATI Theater HD 750, that will be available in PCI Express, USB stick and other formats, and offer NTSC, PAL/SECAM, ATSC, ClearQAM and DVB-T reception in one device.  In addition to using it with a Windows Media Center setup, it can also be used to record H.264, AVI, MPEG, DivX, WMV and MPEG4 files for use on PMPs.  Again, no specific details on pricing or availability.

ATI Theater HD 750 video demo: