Overview
Athlon processors run at 700 MHz. The AMD Athlon processor's microarchitecture is designed to support the growing processor and system bandwidth requirements of emerging software, graphics, I/O, and memory technologies. The AMD Athlon processor's high-speed execution core includes multiple x86 instruction decoders, a dual-ported 128-KB split level-one (L1) cache, three independent integer pipelines, three address calculation pipelines, and the x86 superscalar, fully pipelined, out-of-order, three-way floating-point engine. The floating-point engine is capable of delivering 2.4 gigaflops (Gflops) of single-precision and more than 1 Gflop of double-precision floating-point results at 600 Mhz for superior performance on numerically complex applications.
The AMD Athlon processor's microarchitecture includes:
Nine-issue, superpipelines, superscalar x86 processor microarchitecture designed for high clock frequencies:
Multiple x86 instruction decoders
72-entry instruction control unit
Advanced dynamic branch prediction
Three out-of-order, superscalar, pipelined integer units
Three out-of-order, superscalar, pipelined address calculation units
Enhanced 3DNow! technology with new instructions to enable improved integer math calculations for speech or video encoding and improved data movement for internet plug-ins and other streaming applications
High-performance cache architecture featuring an integrated 128-KB L1 cache and a programmable, high-speed backside L2 cache interface
200-MHz AMD Athlon system bus (scalable beyond 400 MHz) enabling leading-edge system bandwidth for data movement-intensive applications
Athlon's EV6 bus
The AMD Athlon system bus, operating at 200 MHz, is capable of delivering 1.6 GB/sec data bandwidth, and it can scale to 3.2 Gbytes/sec data bandwidth at 400 MHz. As the first 200-MHz bus for x86 platforms, the AMD Athlon system bus provides scalable bandwidth and next-generation features that are not available from older platforms based on 100-MHz bus implementations or previous-generation x86 processors.
Operating clock speeds
The AMD Athlon processor currently is available at clock speeds of 700, 650, 600, 550, and 500-MHz, based on AMD's 0.25-micron process technology.
Processor compatibility
The AMD Athlon processor is not compatible with Intel's Pentium (R) III motherboard. The AMD Athlon processor uses AMD's Slot A module design, which is mechanically compatible with Slot 1 motherboards but uses a different electrical interface. Because Slot A and Slot 1 infrastructures are not electrically compatible, the AMD Athlon processor cannot work with Slot 1 motherboards. Slot A is designed to connect electrically to a 200-MHz system bus based on the Alpha EV6 bus protocol, thus delivering a significant performance advantage over Slot 1 infrastructure.
Performance levels
The AMD Athlon processor is designed to set a new performance standard for x86 processors, delivering the highest available x86 performance for software applications. The AMD Athlon processor delivers integer, floating-point, and multimedia performance that is superior to any competing x86 processor.
AMD Athlon and Pentium III comparison
The AMD Athlon processor--the industry's first seventh-generation x86 microprocessor--significantly outperforms the sixth-generation Pentium III at the same clock speed. Specific benchmark comparisons are posted on the AMD Web site. See Web link below.
Chipsets and motherboards
AMD is supporting the AMD Athlon processor by delivering its own high-performance, optimized chipset solution--the AMD-750 chipset.
Upgrades
The AMD-K6-2 or AMD-K6-III processor based systems cannot be upgraded to the AMD Athlon processor. The AMD Athlon processor is a totally new architecture and system platform demanding a new set of thermal and electrical specifications and enclosure requirements to match its leading-edge performance capabilities.
