SF Gate Article FYI
Intel May Have Met Its Match
AMD's K6 chip keeps pace with Pentium II
Julia Angwin, Chronicle Staff Writer
A new computer chip from AMD could give Intel a serious run for its money, according to a study by PC World magazine.
AMD's latest chip -- the K6 -- kept pace with Intel's newest chip -- the Pentium II -- in a contest between the two
microprocessors staged by the magazine.
More high-tech info at New Media News
The study will be released today on PC World's Web site at www.pcworld.com.
``This is a watershed event,'' said Mark Edelstone, a semiconductor analyst at Prudential Securities in San Francisco. ``It's the first
time anybody has ever had a product that is competitive with the latest generation technology from Intel.''
For the past five years, competitors of Santa Clara-based Intel have failed to keep up with the powerhouse chipmaker's
innovations. AMD chips were relegated to the entry level computers, while Intel dominated the lucrative high-end market.
In October of 1995, AMD bought NexGen, a Milpitas chipmaker that had the technology to match Intel. The result was the K6 --
the first AMD product since the 386 chip to compete with Intel's high- end offering.
Sunnyvale-based AMD plans to release the K6 on April 2. Intel said it will start shipping the Pentium II -- a successor to the
Pentium Pro -- in early May.
PC World staffers installed the chips in two similar computers and compared the time each took to run common software
programs. Despite the AMD K6 chip being handicapped by a slower processing speed -- 233 megahertz compared to Pentium
II's 266 MHz -- it performed nearly as well.
For example, the Pentium II displayed a movie running on Macromedia's Director at 91 frames per second, compared to K6's 87
frames per second.
Both chips were substantially faster than the Pentium MMX, Intel's so-called multimedia chip that displayed the movie at 80 frames
per second.
``Consumers will see a substantial difference in performance, particularly in multimedia applications,'' said Charles Piller, executive
editor of PC World.
He predicted competition between the two chipmakers will cause high performance PC prices to fall in the coming months.
Initially, both new chips will be built into top-of-the-line desktop PCs. A fully loaded Pentium II PC will cost around $3,000, while
its K6 counterpart may go for about $2,500, Piller said.
Neither Intel or AMD would comment on prices or performance of their chips until they are released.
Intel's shares took a dip earlier this week on fears that competitors will steal market share. The stock closed yesterday at $136.75,
up 38 cents
Analyst Charles Boucher of UBS Securities in San Francisco said he remains bullish on Intel despite the threat from AMD.
AMD's new chip is expected to cost less than Intel's. However, the company could still find itself at a disadvantage because the K6
will not fit into a socket designed for the Pentium II inside a PC.
The K6 will fit into slots designed for older Pentiums.
``Even though this chip may perform as well as the Pentium II, it will be viewed in the market as a Pentium-class chip,'' Boucher
said. |
