AMD to launch K6-2 3D supported by MSFT, announce top-tier PC design win
SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc will introduce a new
K6 chip with improved multimedia technology, and it hopes to entice video game developers to
embrace the chip by launching it at the big E3 trade show.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it will introduce the AMD-K6-2 Thursday at the
E3 Expo in Atlanta, the biggest trade show for the video game industry. The new
semiconductor will contain a new multimedia instruction set called 3D Now.
Analysts said the new instruction set seeks to improve on Intel Corp's (INTC - news) MMX
multimedia technology. The new K6 has three dimensional graphics capabilities embedded in
the chip.
''The idea is to accelerate even more of the graphics process than MMX does,'' said Dean
McCarron, a principal at Mercury Research in Scottsdale, Ariz., adding that AMD is trying to
''out-MMX MMX,'' referring to Intel's technology.
The new K6 is the first upgrade of AMD's microprocessor since it was launched in April 1997.
The K6, which is a clone of Intel's Pentium II, has found a home among some top-tier PC
makers in their sub-$1,000 offerings, such as Compaq Computer Corp (CPQ - news) and
International Business Machines Corp (IBM - news).
McCarron said it is possible AMD will also announce on Thursday some top-tier PC vendors
who plan to use the new chip.
AMD has made inroads with PC makers by pricing its chips at an average of about 25 percent
less than Intel's processors.
But with its newest K6, its instruction set differs from Intel, and analysts said the key to its
widespread use will be in the software packages that are designed around it. Microsoft Corp
(MSFT - news) is supporting the K6-2 with an application programming interface (API)
called Direct X, which is a key interface between the hardware and the software applications.
Direct X is now in customer testing and was not included in Windows 98. But software
developers can easily download upgrades to get new APIs, such as Direct X, McCarron said.
''Having the hardware in place is only one step,'' McCarron said. McCarron said that he
expects the K6-2 will be in widespread use in about a year, but that some new PCs and
software applications that take advantage of the K6-2 3D capabilities, especially in the video
game area, will be seen this year, by the big fourth quarter retail season.
Intel is also developing a new generation of multimedia and three dimensional graphics
capabilties, in a chip code-named Katmai, which is expected sometime next year. |
