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AUSTIN, TX--OCTOBER 7, 1996--AMD today announced two new, higher performance members of its AMD-K5(TM) processor family, the AMD-K5-PR133 and AMD-K5-PR120 processors, targeted for the mainstream desktop personal computer market.
The new AMD-K5-PR133 and the AMD-K5-PR120 processors deliver system performance equal to or better than 133- and 120-MHz Pentiums, respectively, based on P-Rating tests using the Ziff-Davis Winstone 96 benchmark. The P-Rating provides the PC industry with a single, meaningful measurement of true system performance provided by the processor.
"Fifth-generation systems in the PR133 performance range will be far and away the volume leader, with close to 40 percent of the PC system market in the fourth quarter of this year," said Mike Feibus, principal, Mercury Research.
"Seventy percent of the desktop PCs sold today are in performance ranges up to PR133," said Larry Hollatz, vice president and general manager of AMD's Texas Microprocessor Division. "These new AMD-K5 family members put AMD solidly back in the mainstream desktop PC market."
The AMD-K5-PR133 and PR120 processors are the latest in AMD's family of fifth-generation microprocessors. The processors' Socket 7 hardware compatibility enables PC manufacturers to take advantage of prevailing fifth-generation system designs and infrastructure. This Socket 7 compatibility minimizes system redesign and development cost and speeds time to market. Subsequent members of the AMD-K5 family will deliver increasingly higher performance levels.
Compatible by Design
AMD has a long history of
delivering compatible processor solutions for personal computing, having
supplied 90 million x86 processors since 1982, including over 40 million Windows®-compatible
CPUs in the last four years. The AMD-K5 processor builds on this heritage by
maintaining compatibility with the Microsoft Windows operating system standard.
The AMD-K5 processor is licensed by the Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs to carry the Windows95 logo and has received compatibility certification from XXCAL, Inc., an independent testing laboratory. The AMD-K5 processor is not only compatible with the Windows operating system but also with the installed base of x86 software, including Novell Netware® and OS/2 Warp operating systems, and more than 60,000 other software packages.
Process Technology and Architectural Features
The AMD-K5
processor is a 4.3-million transistor device manufactured at Fab 25 in Austin,
Texas, using AMD's 0.35-micron, three-layer-metal CMOS process technology. The
AMD-K5 processor's fifth-generation performance is derived from AMD's
independently conceived K86(TM) superscalar RISC
(Reduced Instruction Set Computing) core architecture, which combines highly
efficient instruction throughput with complete x86 instruction-set
compatibility. Instructions are issued four times per clock cycle through six
execution units using out-of-order execution and branch prediction techniques.
Third-Party Support
Chipset products for the AMD-K5
processor are currently available from several members of AMD's FusionPCSM
Alliance support program, including National Semiconductor (PicoPower), Acer
Labs, Opti, VIA, and many others. BIOS support is provided by a wide range of
third-party suppliers, including American Megatrends, Inc., Award Software, and
Phoenix. A list of AMD-tested motherboards is also available to PC manufacturers
to enhance time to market. This list is available on AMD's World Wide Web
site.
Availability and Pricing
The AMD-K5-PR133 and
AMD-K5-PR120 processors are priced at $134 and $106, respectively, each in
1,000-piece quantities. Both are offered in a 296-pin SPGA (staggered pin grid
array) package. Samples are available now and AMD is accepting orders.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated
circuits for the personal and networked computer and communications markets. A
Fortune 500 company, AMD produces processors, flash memories, programmable logic
devices, and products for communications and networking applications. Founded
in 1969, AMD is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has sales and manufacturing
facilities worldwide. The company had revenues of $2.5 billion in 1995 (NYSE:
AMD).