Advanced Micro Devices Inc shipped 700MHz versions of its Athlon processor yesterday, with support from Compaq Computer Corp and IBM Corp, both of which announced the availability of systems using the chip. The processor, which supports a 200MHz system bus, significantly outperforms Intel Corp’s highest performance Pentium III processor, currently clocked at 600MHz, the company said, quoting SPEC and WinBench benchmarking tests which showed up to 57% better floating point performance and 45% better integer performance. AMD also claimed the lead on multimedia performance.
Pricing for the 700MHz Athlon has been set at $849 in quantities of 1,000. However, Intel is preparing to fight back. Its Pentium III Coppermine chips will run at up to 700MHz and will support a 133MHz system bus. They are expected to ship on October 25. Intel plans 733MHz versions later in the year, and 800MHz parts next year. Meanwhile, AMD will reveal details of its Athlon Ultra server chip and next-generation, 64-bit K8 at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose today.
