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AMD Goes 3D With a Speedy Pentium II Competitor

PCs sporting AMD's K6-2 chips and 3DNow technology are as fast on business apps as Pentium IIs, for at least $250 less. But lackluster graphics performance and a dearth of 3DNow software mean the jury is still out.

  

Advanced Micro Devices has craved your respect for ages. But occasional bad designs coupled with recent manufacturing mishaps have kept its chips out of savvy users' PCs. Now the number two maker of microprocessors has a chance to stand tall, with a chip that has enhancements the Pentium II won't match for at least six months.

The K6-2, shipping now at 266 and 300 MHz (and later this summer at 333 MHz), keeps pace with Intel's PII on standard business applications and adds 3DNow, a set of 21 instructions designed to improve games and graphics-rich applications. Are K6-2 systems worth a serious look? Yes. Preproduction K6-2 systems we tested ran productivity apps as fast as similarly configured 266- and 300-MHz Pentium II machines--and cost at least $250 less. Midrange Pentium II desktops typically cost from $1499 to more than $2000, while the K6-2 systems we tested cost $1249 and $1633.

Still, AMD may not have hit a home run yet. It won't have a 400-MHz chip until late this year. By then, Intel will be shipping 450-MHz chips. Moreover, AMD has yet to prove the worth of its 3D instructions. Few applications enhanced for 3DNow were ready at press time, and the outlook for more is unclear.

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