An interesting Reading on AMD:
From: whatisnew.com
AMD Meeting Update
We met with AMD yesterday and there are a couple of worthwhile items we'd like to
review with you.
AMD is a leader in this industry. They seem to have a complex about this fact.
Maybe it is humility. We aren't sure what we were observing since being humble
is rarely present in this industry.
The people we met were relaxed, comfortable, and honorable. We met
wonderful people just walking onto their campus. Employees who were outside
relaxing were actually smiling. The AMD receptionist is polite and kind. The
people behind the products' designs were also polite and respectful. It just gave
us a warm fuzzy feeling. AMD is definitely a company about people and it
shows.
As a company, AMD has a policy for recycling chemicals. That's smart. You
need to know this because we happen to all live on the same planet. And Al and
Gracie happen to love their drinking water. Al and Gracie claim that they could
do without the bath water but don't believe them.
AMD's headquarters is gorgeous. Al and Gracie would love to spend some time
on their campus lawn.
AMD does not have a 0.25 micron K6/233 processor for the desktop. People
email us on this one all day long. No, according to AMD, there was not a release
of the K6/233 using this process. The best way to identify a 0.25 micron K6 from a
0.35 micron is the processor frequency. The 0.35 micron processors are the
K6/200 and 233 MHz. The 0.25 micron are the K6/266 and 300 MHz.
Super7 starts with the K6-3D processor. AMD is very excited about this product.
Their excitement is infectious so watch for a May release with dozens of major
Industry backers.
The AMD K6-3D is an internal "code name." for the AMD 3D graphics processor
The product release in May will also bring a branding name. AMD suggests
that we all watch for their press release next week for the announcement of the
new name. Is this a new strategy for AMD? No, as it turns out, AMD was ready to
use a brand name for the K6. At the last moment, intelligence won out. We
warned them not to go with Kumquat.
The AMD K6-3D will add 21 instructions for improving graphics.
The new 21 instructions developed by AMD hasn't received enough
attention. Legacy programs and new programs will benefit from these
instructions. The first AMD presenter slid passed the four times
improvement on the floating point. There wasn't an explanation. A
second and third time review of this timely idea, strongly suggests that
AMD is onto something.
The Floating Point portion of the x86 processors has been based on the
x87. Intel added 57 instructions to the processor in order to improve
graphic pixel rendering. They coined these extensions MMX Technology.
AMD has a cross license and also uses the same 57 MMX instructions in
the K6 processors.
The limitation of these extensions is in the history of the x87 design. If you
recall, some press was given to the Floating Point to Integer math "context
switching" required of the processor (and programmers' implementation
in order to take advantage of MMX.). Well, AMD has attacked the
graphics "bottleneck" a bit differently. They decided to improve the
processor prior to the Graphics accelerators, rather than try to replace
them.
By using 2 operations (32-bit) in one 64 bit register, and 2 pipelines, the
AMD K6-3D will be able to improve their graphics performance
dramatically. There won't be any context switching between floating point
and integer math. That should get some programmers excited. There
isn't any overlap with the MMX technology. There also isn't any overlap
with the Intel Katmai Instructions that will be out in 1999.
The proof of a performance increase will be in the final product - but the
idea is exciting. Because these instructions are "open" to their
competitors, AMD demonstrated leadership. Cyrix and IDT have stated
they will work with the extensions. The "other" company declined.
Frontside, Backside, Upside, and Downside. 100 MHz Frontside Bus is the
marketing term used by Intel to promote their 100 MHz Bus. As you know, the L2
cache for the Pentium II runs at half the speed of the core. The 100 MHz is the
frequency from the processor to the main system memory. The Downside to
using the term "Frontside" is the marketing nightmare. Do we really know what
Intel is describing as a Frontside 100 MHz bus? The "100 MHz" Backside bus
will be available from Intel on the Slot 2 processors. On Slot 2 processors, the L2
cache will be running the same speed as the core. On the Upside, AMD
happens to be in a good marketing position. Their 100 MHz bus will be for the
processor and the L2 cache. Yes, AMD has the Upside, the Downside, the
Frontside, and the Backside all on their side.
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