AMD DEVELOPS ATHLON PROCESSOR PLATFORM SUPPORTING DDR MEMORY
5/25/0 1:20 (New York)
From Albert:
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(The following is a reformatted version of a press release issued by Advanced
Micro Devices)
AMD DEVELOPS FIRST AMD ATHLON PROCESSOR PLATFORM SUPPORTING DOUBLE DATA RATE
(DDR) MEMORY
- Third Party Validation of DDR Memory and Chipsets Under Way -
Singapore-May 24, 2000-AMD has announced a prototype AMD Athlon
processor platform featuring support for high performance double data
rate (DDR) memory. DDR memory is the highest-bandwidth and lowest
latency PC memory technology currently available, and is planned to
enable the AMD Athlon processor platform to deliver new levels of
performance on math-intensive applications like video editing,
CAD/CAM, scientific applications, and Internet content creation.
"Our OEM partners have requested that AMD develop next-generation
chipsets that deliver high-performance platforms at competitive
costs," said Wee Yep Yin, product marketing manager at AMD Far East.
"Responding to demand for DDR technology, AMD is working with the
leading DDR memory manufacturers to help AMD deliver the next
generation of high-performance AMD Athlon workstation and PC
platforms."
DDR memory heavily leverages existing Synchronous Dynamic Random
Access Memory (SDRAM) technologies, the most common memory found in
today's leading PCs. Next-generation DDR memory is thus expected to be
manufactured at cost levels that are in line with today's mainstream
PC memory costs. As the industry's successor to SDRAM, DDR's 266 MHz
bandwidth can achieve memory bandwidth up to 2.6 times the bandwidth
of SDRAM, at similar costs.
"DDR memory technology has already made its way into high-end server
platforms, driven by the performance, capacity, cost, and
infrastructure continuity of the next-generation technology," said
Bert McComas, principle analyst at InQuest Market Research in the U.S.
"The AMD-760 chipset looks to bring the advantages of DDR memory
technology to the workstation and high-end PC user, where a key
element in the memory performance equation is to deliver superior
performance without adding significantly to system cost. DDR
technology should to be the solution to deliver this combination."
The prototype AMD Athlon processor platform supporting DDR memory was
demonstrated recently at the WinHEC conference in New Orleans in
conjunction with the leading memory manufacturers that plan to produce
DDR memory this year, including Micron, Samsung, Toshiba, Hitachi,
NEC, Hyundai, and Infineon Technologies. Both the AMD-760 chipset and
DDR memory modules are planned to be available in the second half of
2000.
Industry Support for DDR Memory Standard Continues To Grow
"Recent industry benchmarks establish that DDR SDRAM systems deliver
industry-leading performance. Plus, we believe that we will be able
to produce DDR SDRAM memory at similar costs as PC100/133 SDRAM," said
Jeff Mailloux, director of DRAM Marketing for Micron. "DDR SDRAM is an
evolutionary step beyond SDRAM, enabling us to leverage current
manufacturing processes. By combining leading-edge performance and
competitive costs, the DDR SDRAM delivers multiple advantages to our
customers."
"Samsung is dedicating millions of dollars to the design,
manufacturing, and validation of high-performance, next-generation DDR
memory modules," said Bob Eminian, vice president of marketing and
corporate communications at Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "The
performance advantage DDR memory delivers, coupled with our ability to
leverage current SDRAM manufacturing processes to bring DDR memory to
market at competitive costs, will help accelerate the adoption and
proliferation of this exciting new technology."
"Hyundai Electronics strongly supports Double Data Rate memory
technology and has invested considerable resources into the design,
manufacturing, and validation of high-performance, next-generation DDR
memory modules," said Mario Martinez, director of strategic marketing
at Hyundai Electronics America. "DDR memory delivers performance
advantages that when coupled with Hyundai's proven SDRAM manufacturing
process and significant capacity, makes adoption of DDR very
attractive--both in terms of time-to-market and low-cost."
DDR Memory and Chipset Validation Work Underway
Additionally, SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. announced the launch of
an industry-wide DDR enabling Validation Program. SMART is an
independent, third-party validation test house which verifies critical
DDR SDRAM specifications, providing OEMs with increased confidence
when designing systems featuring DDR memory technology. The goal of
this program is to verify that each supplier's DDR memory modules are
functioning correctly with AMD's chipsets that support DDR memory.
AMD has also been working closely with several memory vendors
throughout the development phases of DDR devices and modules to ensure
compatibility.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and
networked computer and communications markets. AMD produces
processors, flash memories and products for communications and
networking applications. AMD processors, including the AMD-K6-2 and
AMD Athlon product families, power computers manufactured by nine of
the Top 10 computer manufacturers worldwide. According to PC Data
Hardware Report for January 2000, AMD's mobile processors are used in
more than 65 percent of notebook computers sold in the retail market
to consumers and small businesses. Founded in 1969 and based in
Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of US$2.9 billion in 1999.
(NYSE: AMD). Additional information about AMD is available at:
amd.com
###
AMD, AMD Athlon, K6, 3DNow! and combinations thereof and AMD-760 are
trademarks and AMD-K6 is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc. Other product names used in this publication are for
identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective
companies.
(dd) SI
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