Athlon 64- new brand name for AMD chips

BANGALORE: AMD has said that its 64-bit microprocessor for desktop and notebooks, formerly code named Clawhammer, will have a new brand name - AMD Athlon 64. The release claimed that desktop and mobile PCs built on the AMD Athlon 64 processor would be able to run 64-bit applications at full performance and simultaneously run 32-bit software applications with no performance penalty. AMD said that the new processor would help users with quicker loading of applications and better multi-tasking.

"The AMD Athlon 64 brand name builds on the familiarity and reputation of the AMD Athlon processor and immediately conveys to customers the performance and technical superiority of its 64-bit computing capability," said Ed Ellett, vice president of client business segment for AMD's Computation Products Group.






"Neither PC consumers nor application developers want to start from scratch," said Ellett. "They want backward compatibility to protect current investments. The upcoming AMD Athlon 64 processor is built on existing standards, enabling investment protection and lower total cost of ownership and development."





The new processor will have a scalable system bus that uses the HyperTransport technology. Earlier this year, AMD had named its 64-bit enterprise class processor for servers and workstations as AMD Opteron. AMD said that the desktops based on AMD Athlon 64 would be available during the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2003.