Because of the high power usage of the Duron, we feel we need to take a closer look at the issue. As we said before, the Duron uses 1.65V @ <25A maximum, which comes to about 41W maximum. That is an awful lot of power consumption for a value system's CPU. While we recommend 300W for those putting together their own system, companies like Compaq and HP ship much less powerful supplies in their value systems.
We asked AMD what type of power supply would be needed with the Duron. They said that it would need 200W for an ATX system and 145W for a microATX system. But the system they sent to Sharky Extreme for review uses a 300W supply. That's a bit more than their recommended power rating. That, coupled with the high power needs of the Duron, makes us a bit nervous about overall Duron system power needs. AMD may be making a great processor but killing themselves on the power consumption issue.
The disturbing thing is, even if the Duron will work fine on current 145W microATX systems, what about the next generation? What about book-size flexATX systems? And what about the next generation of small form factor SFX power supplies? There is no way a 41W CPU will work in a system with a 90W supply. The benchmarks show whether or not AMD makes a hit with the Duron's performance, but it looks like its power requirements are currently far from a bull's eye and that next generation small form factor systems may have serious trouble with the Duron.
AMD is value pricing the Duron and aiming it at the high-end of the value market, right where the Celeron is prevalent. The Duron's unit price in quantities of 1K is generally comparable to the current unit price of the Celeron. Complete Duron systems should cost in the range of $899 to $1199. For the sub-$899 market, AMD will keep their K6-2 in production. Eventually the Duron will move down in price, taking over the K6-2's market and phasing the older processor out.