AMD has quietly added a pair of top-of-the-line Athlon 64 X2 processors to its public price list. Missing from the list when AMD introduced its 65nm processors on 5 December, the 5400+ and 5600+ have now been added to the line-up. Shhhh, don't mention it - someone might want to buy one...

The two new dual-core parts are fabbed at 90nm and are both clocked at 2.8GHz. They consume up to 89W of power. What separates them is cache size: 1MB for the 5400+ and 2MB for the 5600+, with the cache split 50:50 between each core. Both CPUs connect across AMD's Socket AM2 bus.

AMD is pricing the 5400+ at $485 and the 5600+ at $505. The already available 5200+ comes in at $403.

The 5400+ and 5600+ had been expected to debut in November, along with the 3GHz, 125W 6000+. Maybe AMD is saving the 6000+ for a louder launch in the New Year. ®