Expreview, the site that first broke word of the Core 2 Duo’s new “i7″ moniker, is back with details regarding AMD’s Kuma core. Based on the STARS family of processors which includes the Phenom X3 and Phenom X4, the Kuma is the last breath of AMD’s dual core strategy. Delayed since 2007 and positioned to succeed AMD’s flagging Athlon 64 X2 series, this chip is the final piece of the Phenom-derived offering and the last mainstream dual core AMD will manufacture.

The chip is easily faster than the Brisbane core used in the most recent generation of X2-class CPUs. Even while running at a 300MHz clock deficit, it typically surpasses its predecessor. The Kuma also boasts new instruction sets, better thermal properties, a superior memory controller and overclockability that pushed it north of 3.3GHz.

To be released as the Athlon 6500, Athlon 6400 and Athlon 6300, we know the 6500 will also have a Black Edition variant. The chips are expected to be priced extremely inexpensively and should make a good drop-in upgrade for anyone capable of running an AM2+ processor.