Monday, November 12, 2001		On Hardware

Athlon XP processor offers better audio
and video editing
Tribune News Service

THE AMD last week announced the launch of the new AMD Athlon™ XP processor, the world’s highest-performance processor for desktop PCs, in India. The AMD also announced the plans to drive an initiative to develop a reliable processor performance metric that PC users can trust.

American Micro Devices (AMD) launched Athlon XP in India. — PTI photo

AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked computer and communications markets with manufacturing facilities in the USA, Europe, Japan, and Asia.

For most of the PCs first 20 years, megahertz (MHz) was a reliable indicator of PC processor performance because the major players used the same architecture for product design, and the clock speed was a good proxy for performance. "This is no longer true," W.J. Sanders III, AMD chairman and chief executive officer said. "The award-winning performance of our seventh-generation AMD Athlon processor architecture demonstrates that clock speed is only half of the performance equation. With the new AMD Athlon XP processor, the AMD again accelerates innovation, reduces system cost while delivering the fastest application performance and places the consumer at the forefront of digital technology."

AMD introduced its brand-new processor for high-performance desktop computers, the AMD Athlon XP processor, formerly codenamed "Palomino." The AMD Athlon XP processor features the new, patented QuantiSpeed™ architecture that delivers up to a 25-per cent performance advantage versus competitive processors on a broad array of real-world applications, in such categories as digital media, office productivity and 3D gaming. The new AMD Athlon XP processor offers a significant performance advantage compared to the standard AMD Athlon processor.

The new processor also includes 3DNow!™ Professional technology that adds 52 new instructions, accelerating 3D performance for digital media applications such as photo, video and audio editing. The AMD Athlon "XP" modifier is designed to convey the extreme performance. AMD Athlon XP processors deliver for the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP operating system.

AMD will identify the AMD Athlon XP processor using model numbers, as opposed to clock speed in MHz and is introducing 1800+, 1700+, 1600+ and 1500+ versions. Model numbers are intended to designate the relative application performance among the various AMD Athlon XP processors as well as communicate the architectural superiority over existing AMD Athlon processors.

The AMD Athlon XP processor features 384 KB of on-chip, full-speed cache. It is compatible with AMD’s Socket A infrastructure, and supports an advanced 266MHz front-side bus.

AMD Athlon XP processors are manufactured using AMD’s 0.18-micron copper process technology in Dresden, Germany. Microsoft Corp. and major computer manufacturers are expressing support for the new AMD Athlon XP processor.

"The upcoming Windows XP operating system has been tailored to take the advantage of the unique capabilities of the AMD Athlon XP processor, resulting in a great end-user experience. Together with Windows XP and the AMD Athlon XP, we provide users with an efficient and dependable computing experience with new tools for the digital age," John Frederiksen, General Manager, PC Experience, Microsoft said.

"Fujitsu provides the FMV series of products, which deliver an easy-to-use, high-performance, trouble-free PC environment for various usage scenarios, including the Internet, audio-visual, and multimedia applications," Masami Yamamoto, General Manager, Desktop Products Division, Fujitsu Limited said. "We anticipate that the AMD Athlon XP processor, a high-performance processor introduced by AMD, in combination with the future release of Windows XP, will enable users to experience rich content far more enjoyably in usage scenarios such as broadband and audio-visual applications. Fujitsu also intends to supply PCs incorporating AMD Athlon XP processors."

Systems featuring AMD Athlon XP processor, including models 1800+, 1700+, 1600+ and 1500+, are expected to be available immediately from Compaq, Fujitsu-Siemens and NEC-CI. Other top tier manufacturers, including Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard Company and MicronPC, also are planning to offer AMD Athlon XP processor-based systems.

In India, PC systems based on the AMD Athlon XP Processor from Vintron Informatics Limited will be available shortly. The AMD Athlon XP processor 1800+, 1700+, 1600+ and 1500+ are priced at $ 252, $ 190, $ 160 and $ 130 in 1,000-unit quantities, respectively.