News
AMD Rolls Out New Processors
- By Scott Bekker
- November 29, 1999
AMD (
www.amd.com) today announced the introduction of two new high-speed processors. The 533-MHz AMD K6-2 processor with 3Dnow! technology and the fastest-to-date 750-MHz AMD Athlon processor were both released today.
The K6-2 processor with 3Dnow! technology provides the necessary speed and performance for today's Windows-based home and office applications and systems. The 9.3-million-transistor K6-2 processor is manufactured on AMD's 0.25-micron, five-layer-metal process technology using local interconnect and shallow trench isolation at AMD's Fab 25 wafer fabrication facility in Austin, Texas. The processor is packaged in a Super7 platform-compatible, 321-ceramic pin grid array (CPGA) package using C4 flip-clip interconnection technology.
3Dnow! technology, developed by AMD, uses the x86 architecture, significantly enhancing the floating-point-intensive 3D graphics and multimedia applications. It uses single instruction multiple data (SIMD) and other performance enhancements to provide a compelling visual computing experience.
The 750-MHz AMD Athlon processor, currently the industry's fastest by raw numbers, was also introduced today. The processor will be incorporated into home and business systems by several manufacturers, including Compaq (www.compaq.com).
The Athlon processor is the first processor to be built using AMD's aluminum, 0.18-micron manufacturing process, and new Athlon processors are now being built using that advanced technology. The 0.18-micron manufacturing process shrinks the size of the processor die, enabling faster processor speeds and lowering power consumption. The 750-MHz AMD Athlon processor is the second speed upgrade AMS has offered its customers since the processor's introduction.
The AMD Athlon processor is an x86-compatible, seventh-generation design featuring a superpipelined, nine-issue superscalar microarchitecture optimized for high clock frequency; a fully pipelined, superscalar floating point unit for x86 platforms; high-performance cache technology, including 128 KB of on-chip level one (L1) cache and a programmable, high-performance backside L2 cache interface; enhanced 3Dnow! technology with 24 new instructions designed to improve integer math calculations; data movement for Internet streaming and DSP communications; and the AMD Athlon system bus - a 200 MHz system interface based on the Alpha EV6 bus protocol with support for scalable multiprocessing.
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.