We already knew that AMD had its Puma and Griffin-based Turion line coming, but a June 3 launch at Computex is all but confirmed now. The Puma platform will be based on the Turion Ultra processor with an integrated Mobility Radeon 3200 graphics chip along with as WiFi. Discrete graphic chip options will include the ATI Mobility Radeon 3450, 3650, and 3850. SSDs will make a limited appearance due to what AMD is citing as a prohibitive high cost. Nonetheless, it looks like AMD is doing whatever it can to take the spotlight away from Intel, especially now that the Centrino 2 has been delayed.

With Intel’s Montevina platform (hopefully) on the way and AMD’s claim that “over 100″ laptops will launch with Puma, it’s kind of surprising that we haven’t seen even more pre-release info on machines due to ship with the new chips, but apparently ASUS is getting ready to hit us with some new gear at Computex. Based on the existing M51 and M70 lines, the M51VR will feature a 2.26GHz Penryn P8400 with 3MB of L2 cache on Montevina’s 1.06GHz bus, while the M51VA and M70VM (pictured) will get 2.53GHz T9400s with 6MB of cache. ASUS should also be showing off the Puma-based F5Z and X50Z laptops with 1.9GHz AMD Athlon64 X2 QL-60 chips, 667MHz buses, ATI Mobility Radeon HD3200 graphics and 15.4-inch screens at Computex, so it’ll be interesting to see how these bad boys do side-by-side.

[Thanks, Sergio]

Read – ASUS Montevina laptops
Read – ASUS Puma laptops

Remember those AMD Business Class desktops we told you about, oh, just hours ago? Looks like the first of the family are starting to roll out, beginning with the HP Compaq dc5850 and dx2450 Business Desktop PCs. Both rigs support “next-generation AMD Business Class processors” (that’s the Athlon X2, Phenom X3 and Phenom X4) along with the usual complement of slots / ports, and while the former gets integrated ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, AMD’s Cool’n'Quiet 2.0 technology, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional dual-drive RAID setup and a dual-layer DVD writer, the latter boasts NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics, room for 4GB of RAM and up to 500GB of SATA HDD space. Best of all, both machines come in pretty easy on the wallet, with the dc5850 hitting in early May for $599 and the dx2450 available now for $369.

What’s a flagging microprocessor company to do after an absolutely tumultuous 2007 (and start to 2008)? Why, dish out its own desktop family, of course! At least that’s what AMD is reckoning judging by the abrupt introduction of the Business Class desktop. Obviously the firm’s very first computer brand, the series is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, but it’s noted that even the “biggest corporate clients” can find something to love. The company is planning to move the units via Acer, HP, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens and Lenovo, and they’ll be available with Athlon X2 dual-core, Phenom X3 triple-core and Phenom X4 quad-core CPUs. Oh, and if you’re own outfit is totally over these “desktops,” AMD is looking to unveil Business Class laptops during the second half of 2008.

If your interest in processor speeds doesn’t extend much beyond “is it fast?” then these juicy tidbits likely aren’t for you. That said, AMD is certainly getting excited about its upcoming Barcelona sucessor: the 45nm Shanghai. The main points of interest out of the gate are HyperTransport 3.0, which was nixed late in the game on Barcelona, and six cores, which are meant to pit the chip up against Intel’s upcoming six-core Dunnington chip. Where things get really exciting is a few months after Shanghai’s late 2008 debut, when AMD plans do release a twin-die version, with 12 cores of happiness connected by HyperTransport 3.0. What does all that mean? Beats us, but we hope it’s fast.

Check it: AMD’s potent Phenom 9850 processor, which had a fairly impressive showing during its recent benchmarking test, has teamed up with a pair of ATI’s Radeon HD 3870 X2s to bring the Aurora desktop back on the scene. Available now and starting at just $999, Alienware’s (potentially) “value-priced” gaming rig can be equipped with one of four AMD CPUs, a liquid-cooling system, twin 512MB 3870 X2 GPUs, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a few terabytes of HDD space, a Blu-ray reader (or burner if you’ve got the cash), an optional (but totally necessary) Killer K1 gaming NIC, Ageia PhysX processor and your choice of colored enclosures. Of course, speccing this beauty into a rig worth gloating over will easily set you back four large or so, but hey, you only live once, right?