SAN MATEO (02/11/2000) - ADVANCED MICRO Devices on Thursday began shipping an 850-MHz version of its popular Athlon processor, putting the company a step ahead of rival Intel in the quest for a real-world processor that operates at the coveted 1-GHz mark.
Intel's fastest chip to date is the Coppermine-class Pentium III, which performs at 800 MHz.
While AMD, Intel, and other competitors in the processor market, such as IBM, have each successfully tested 1-GHz processors under lab conditions, none have been capable of delivering a working 1-GHz processor to market yet.
Both the AMD Athlon processor and the Intel Pentium III are designed to 0.18-micron architecture on aluminum relays. Current development by both AMD and Intel to engineer their processors down to 0.13 microns on copper relays should take both companies past the 1-GHz processor speed by next year, according to sources familiar with the processors.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is at http://www.amd.com. Intel Corp., based in Santa Clara, Calif., is at http://www.intel.com.
Dan Neel is an InfoWorld reporter.