AMD to Release Athlon XP 2000+ Monday

Advanced Micro Devices will announce a new processor on Monday, a source close to AMD said Friday. Rival Intel also is expected to launch a new processor the same day.

AMD is planning to unveil the Athlon XP 2000+, which will run at 1.67 GHz, according to the source. This chip will purportedly dethrone the Athlon XP 1900+, which runs at 1.60 GHz, as its fastest chip for desktop computers.

Intel, for its part, on Monday will launch the 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 processor, the company's first based on the 0.13-micron Northwood core, which features 512KB of Level 2 cache. Current 0.18-micron Pentium 4 processors offer 256KB of cache.

Intel Supported

PC vendors are already readying new systems loaded with Intel's 2.2-GHz P4, for availability Monday when the chip ships.

Among the manufacturers planning to introduce PCs with the new Pentium are IBM, Gateway, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and MicronPC, according to sources familiar with the separate vendors' plans. System pricing for PCs sporting the 2.2-GHz Pentium 4 chip is expected to be in the $2000 range, depending on individual configuration, according to industry sources.

Intel has touted the upcoming chip as its fastest microprocessor yet. It made an early debut in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district last week.

New Naming Style

Although its processors run at lower clock speeds, AMD says its chips can match Intel's performance because they can handle more work in a given clock cycle. However, an industry insider said Intel might have the industry edge with the 512KB cache level. The AMD Athlon XP chips carry 384KB of cache.

AMD's most recent chip introduction was the Athlon XP 1900+, unveiled in November. MicronPC, HP, and Compaq are among the vendors who pledged to release systems running the chip that AMD says challenges Intel's 2-GHz P4.

With the Athlon XP 2000+, AMD continues its new naming convention intended to reflect performance instead of pure megahertz. It is intended to more accurately represent a chip's speed, for customers who don't realize that one 1.5 GHz chip, for example, can run differently than another 1.5 GHz chip, according to AMD. The company launched the program along with its first Athlon XP chips in October. AMD is promoting the rating style as the True Performance Initiative.