Ban Ban Albert - re: " AMD said 2nd half and 2nd half it is "
No no no !!
AMD say 2001 - that what AMD say !!
Now AMD late - oh so late - and AMD be gettin' later !!
AMD details new 64-bit "Sledgehammer" chip
By Michael Kanellos and Brooke Crothers
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
October 5, 1999, 9:15 a.m. PT
URL: news.cnet.com
At a chip conference today, Advanced Micro Devices is detailing a new 64-bit chip that will compete against Intel's Itanium processor, formerly called Merced.
As previously reported, the "SledgeHammer" chip, due in 2001, will constitute AMD's attempt to get into the lucrative market for server and workstation processors, a segment that the struggling chipmaker has long coveted.
The chip will be an extension of the current Intel-compatible chip design, or so-called X86 architecture, an AMD spokesperson said today. Intel's next-generation design, Itanium, will be a wholly new architecture. The AMD project had been known as the K8 to analysts.
AMD microprocessors now almost exclusively go into desktop and notebook computers, and mostly into the cost-conscious consumer segment.
If successful, the new 64-bit processor could help the company's sagging bottom line. This is because SledgeHammer will go into higher-end machines, which cost more money. That may boost revenue for the chipmaker and could help it pull out of its financial tailspin.
Details on SledgeHammer and future Athlons will be one of a number of disclosures at today's kickoff of the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California, one of the major annual events for the silicon set.
Among other presentations, Compaq Computer is expected to provide details on the Alpha EV8, a server chip due in the next few years that will run at 1.6 gigahertz (1,600 megahertz) and faster. IBM will discuss its upcoming Power4 chip, which fuses two separate processors onto one piece of silicon.
But, as is often the case with AMD, observers are likely to be contemplating the gap between company plans and reality. The Athlon processor, which has trounced the Pentium III in multimedia benchmarks, emerged in August but has not made a huge dent in computer sales. IBM and Compaq have released Athlon computers in the last month--but retailers contacted in spot checks, including CompUSA, claim not to have them in stock.
Gateway has stated it is not making an Athlon system for now, and sources have said that the PC maker may also stop using AMD's K6 chip.
Part of the problem has been an inadequate supply of internal components that work with the chip, according to Ashok Kumar, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. "It's been more aggravated by the situation in Taiwan," he said. "The motherboard supplies are being allocated to the Intel solution."
SledgeHammer, the EV8, the Power4, and other chips to be discussed at the forum won't come out for at least a few years. For the more immediate future, however, Intel will provide details on its upcoming "Coppermine" processor, a new version of the Pentium III that integrates 256 kilobytes of performance-enhancing secondary cache memory. The chip, due on October 25, is expected to debut at 700 MHz and 733 MHz, according to sources.
Additionally, Rise Technology will discuss the "Tiger," a low-cost PC processor that will be interchangeable with Intel's Celeron chip. Sony and Cradle Technologies will respectively provide details on chips focused on multimedia performance for appliances.
News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
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