AMD K6-III Released

New TriLevel Cache Design Enables AMD-K6®-III to Deliver Superior Performance on Windows® 98 and Windows NT® for Consumer Enthusiasts and Business Power Users - SUNNYVALE, CA-FEBRUARY 22, 1999-AMD today introduced its highest performance x86 microprocessor for desktop PCs-the AMD-K6®-III processor with 3DNow!(tm) technology. AMD has begun volume shipments of the 400-MHz AMD-K6-III processor and is sampling the 450-MHz AMD-K6-III to OEM customers. Desktop systems based on the AMD-K6-III processor will be available from leading PC makers, including Compaq Computer Corporation. The AMD-K6-III processor outperforms Intel's Pentium® III processor by more than one speed grade on leading business and consumer applications, according to the Ziff-Davis Winstone® 99 benchmark.

"The AMD-K6-III processor with 3DNow! technology is the ultimate sixth-generation PC processor for consumer enthusiasts and business power users," said S. Atiq Raza, AMD co-chief operating officer and chief technical officer. "By combining AMD's innovative 3DNow! instructions with our new TriLevel Cache design, the AMD-K6-III processor delivers industry-leading performance in the Microsoft® Windows® 98 and Windows NT® environments and enables a superior 3D visual computing experience." AMD's TriLevel Cache design, an advanced cache memory architecture debuting in the AMD-K6-III processor, significantly boosts overall PC performance by providing the industry's largest and fastest total system cache for Windows compatible desktop PCs.

"Compaq welcomes today's introduction of the 450-MHz and 400-MHz AMD-K6-III processors with 3DNow! technology, which we plan to use in a new and more powerful Presario series-the fastest Internet PCs from Compaq to date," said Mike Larson, vice president and group general manager of Compaq's Consumer Products Group. "With its innovative TriLevel Cache design and 3DNow! technology, the AMD-K6-III will command the attention of the PC enthusiast."

AMD-K6®-III Processor Enables Highest Performance for Desktop PCs AMD's TriLevel Cache design enables the AMD-K6-III processor to process instructions faster and deliver better performance at the same clock rate than the AMD-K6-2 processor and Intel's Pentium III. According to the Winstone 99 benchmark on Windows 98 and Windows NT, an AMD-K6-III/450 processor-based PC delivers significantly better mainstream business software performance than an equally configured 450-MHz Pentium III processor-based PC. The same benchmark tests on Windows 98 show that a PC powered by the AMD-K6-III/450 also outperforms a 500-MHz Pentium III based system.

"The AMD-K6-III processor enables PC manufacturers and resellers to deliver powerful desktop PCs at any systems price point," added Raza. "The AMD-K6-III not only outperforms an equally clocked Pentium III by the equivalent of one speed grade, it also leverages the cost-effective, high-performance 100-MHz Super7(tm) infrastructure to deliver a superior combination of price and performance. Simply put, PC makers will be able to build better, higher-performance systems with the AMD-K6-III processor."

About the TriLevel Cache Design AMD's innovative TriLevel Cache design maximizes the overall system performance of AMD-K6-III processor-based desktop PCs by delivering one of the industry's largest maximum combined system caches. This larger total cache results in higher system performance. The TriLevel Cache design includes a full-speed 64KB Level 1 (L1) cache (a standard feature of the AMD-K6 processor family), an internal full-speed backside 256KB Level 2 (L2) cache, and a 100-MHz frontside bus to an optional external Level 3 (L3) cache on the Super7 motherboard. With a total of 320KB of combined L1 and L2 cache, the AMD-K6-III processor has more internal cache memory than any other x86 CPU available today. No other x86 processor supports an external L3 cache on the motherboard. When compared to a Pentium III based PC with a maximum total cache of 544KB (32KB internal L1 cache and a maximum of 512KB of half-speed external L2 cache), an AMD-K6-III processor-based PC with a combined cachesize of 1,344KB (64KB L1 cache, 256KB L2 cache, and 1,024KB external L3 cache) delivers up to two and a half times more total system cache. AMD's TriLevel Cache design is not only the largest cache implementation for desktop PCs, it is exceptionally fast. The backside 256KB L2 cache of the AMD-K6-III processor operates at full processor speed. For example, the internal L2 cache of an AMD-K6-III/450 processor operates at a full 450 MHz.

The TriLevel Cache design also offers an internal multiport cache design. This flexible design feature delivers higher system performance by enabling simultaneous 64-bit reads and writes of both the L1 cache and the L2 cache. In addition, each cache can be accessed simultaneously by the processor core.

About the AMD-K6®-III Processor The AMD-K6-III processor with 3DNow! technology incorporates AMD's TriLevel Cache design to enable leading-edge performance for today's consumer PC enthusiasts and business power users. The 21.3-million transistor AMD-K6-III 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 AMD-K6-IIIprocessor is packaged in a 100-MHz Super7 platform-compatible, 321-pin ceramic pin grid array (CPGA) package using C4 flip-chip interconnection technology. About 3DNow!(tm) Technology 3DNow! technology, the first innovation to the x86 architecture that significantly enhances floating-point-intensive 3D graphics and multimedia applications, uses SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) and other performance enhancements to enable a superior visual computing experience.

Introduced as a key feature of the AMD-K6-2 processor in May 1998, 3DNow! technology has more than a nine-month time-to-market head start over competing CPU-based 3D enhancement technologies. The worldwide installed base of 3DNow! technology-enhanced PCs is planned to grow to about 14 million systems by the end of this quarter. AMD processors with 3DNow! technology span the complete range of desktop and mobile computing, from sub-$1,000 PCs to high-performance laptops based on the Mobile AMD-K6-2 processor to high-end multimedia desktop systems powered by the new AMD-K6-III processor.

Support for 3DNow! technology exists today in the leading industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs), including Microsoft's DirectX 6.x and SGI's OpenGL APIs. In addition, numerous hardware and software products have been optimized for 3DNow! technology. Accolade, Activision, Criterion Studios, Digital Anvil, Eidos, GT Interactive, Gremlin, id Software, Interplay, Psygnosis, Rage, and 3DO recently announced their support for 3DNow! technology in several of their forthcoming software titles. These publishers and developers join a growing list of software and hardware developers, including Microsoft, IBM, Epic Games, 3Dfx, and Matrox, that already support 3DNow! in their leading 3D graphics-intensive applications and hardware. New titles supporting 3DNow! technology continue to be added. For a complete list of hardware and software products that support 3DNow! technology, visit the AMD web site at www.amd.com/products/cpg/k623d/optimized.html. AMD-K6®-III Processor Pricing The AMD-K6-III/450 processor is priced at $476, and the AMD-K6-III/400 processor is priced at $284, each in 1,000-unit quantities.

This site is not related to the Microsoft Corporation in any way. Windows and the Windows logo are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. ActiveWindows is an independent site. The information and sources here are obtained from series of hard work & research.