New power systems enjoy pumped-up performance from AMD's new 3200+ 64-bit processor--a boon for gaming and other entertainment apps.

Formerly the domain of servers and top-end workstations, 64-bit processors are cropping up on consumer desktops. Two new systems on the power side of this month's chart sport AMD's new 64-bit chip, the 2.2-GHz Athlon 64 FX-51.

Among the FX-51's performance enhancements over previous AMD CPUs are a 1MB L2 cache (up from the Athlon XP's 512KB), a faster system bus, and an on-chip memory controller that eliminates the front-side bus. Even though no 64-bit operating system exists to help the processors achieve their full potential, they still provide an immediate boost for power users, and they shine running data-intensive tasks such as audio and video encoding and gaming. read more here

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