Although Intel got all the press for passing the 2.0 GHz mark with their Pentium 4, the value processor market has seen the most changes lately. AMD rocked the entry-level market with their Duron 1 GHz, becoming the first to offer 1 GHz power in a value-oriented CPU. Intel followed this up by announcing their Celeron line would ramp up to 1.1 GHz, and suddenly Intel seemed like a viable entry-level option once again.

For the first time in a long while, the Duron was also on the defensive (at least in terms pure core speed) and this rapid speed jump for the Celeron caught a lot of people by surprise. In terms of overall performance, the Duron still pushes more data on a clock-for-clock basis, and by surpassing the Celeron in clock speed, the Duron 1 GHz made the Duron the natural choice for value configurations. Now with Dell and the other large vendors pumping out Celeron 1.1 GHz entry-level systems, AMD may have lost a few sales as a result.

Naturally, the first step is to at least match the Intel Celeron in core speed, which is exactly what AMD has done with the new Duron 1.1 GHz. This processor also uses the new Morgan core that we first saw in the Duron 1 GHz, and serves the dual purpose of matching the Intel Celeron in clock speed, while extending the AMD lead in overall performance. For many PC buyers, the importance of the entry-level market is underplayed and we should note that the majority of system sales still take place in the value range. If you are in the business of selling processors, it is a market that you cannot afford to ignore.

Looking at past Duron releases, which came in 50 MHz increments, it is questionable whether AMD wanted to go all the way to 1.1 GHz for this latest Duron release. It is also interesting to note that AMD not only introduced their enhanced core with the Duron 1 GHz, but that the Duron 1.1 GHz was the follow-up. Forgotten in all of this seems to be the Athlon processors using the Palomino core, which have still not made their appearance. There could be many reasons for this strategy, but Intel really looks to be pushing AMD hard from all angles.

Still, any increase in Duron core speed is good news for buyers, since it creates a new core speed ceiling and lowers prices on slower models. Now that "value processors" have moved well above 1 GHz, it does tend to blur the lines between the performance and entry-level markets. The thought of walking out of a PC store with an entry-level 1.1 GHz system is quite a radical change, even from a few months ago. Exactly how fast the Duron 1.1 GHz really is a more important question, since as we have found out from the Pentium 4, a higher core speed may not always get you the performance crown.