AMD released its 900MHz Duron today, promising the part offers a 30 per cent performance improvement over Intel's rival mid-range PC part, the Celeron, at the same clock speed.

Of course, Chipzilla's part doesn't run above 850MHz, yet. The 900MHz Celery isn't due until Q3. When it does ship, the 900MHz Celeron will only support a 100MHz frontside bus. The new Duron supports a 200MHz FSB, AMD said.

Pricing for the 900MHz part works out at $129 per CPU when ordered in batches of 1000. The previously introduced 850MHz and 800MHz chips now cost $111 and $90, respectively, in 1000-unit quantities. The 750MHz Duron is now defunct, according to AMD's Web site.

AMD said Compaq and a number of second-tier PC makers in the US and Europe had already signed up to use the 900MHz Duron. ®