Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of
x86-compatible microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
s designed and manufactured by
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
(AMD). The original Athlon (now called Athlon Classic) was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and the first desktop processor to reach speeds of one gigahertz (GHz). It made its debut as AMD's high-end processor brand on June 23, 1999.
Over the years AMD has used the Athlon name with the 64-bit
Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon#Athlo ...
architecture, the
Athlon II
Athlon II is a family of AMD multi-core 45 nm central processing units, which is aimed at the budget to mid-range market and is a complementary product lineup to the Phenom II.
Features
The Athlon II series is based on the AMD K10 architect ...
, and
Accelerated Processing Unit
AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), formerly known as Fusion, is a series of 64-bit microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), combining a general-purpose AMD64 central processing unit ( CPU) and integrated graphics processing unit ...
(APU) chips targeting the
Socket AM1
Socket FS1b (rebranded as Socket AM1 ) is a socket designed by AMD, launched in April 2014 for desktop SoCs in the value segment. Socket AM1 is intended for a class of CPUs that contain both an integrated GPU and a chipset, essentially forming a ...
desktop
SoC architecture, and
Socket AM4
Socket AM4 is a PGA microprocessor socket used by AMD's central processing units (CPUs) built on the Zen (including Zen+, Zen 2 and Zen 3) and Excavator microarchitectures.
''AM4'' was launched in September 2016 and was designed to replace the ...
Zen microarchitecture
Zen is the codename for a family of computer processor microarchitectures from Advanced Micro Devices, AMD, first launched in February 2017 with the first generation of its Ryzen CPUs. It is used in Ryzen (desktop and mobile), Ryzen Threadripper ...
.
The modern Zen-based Athlon with a
Radeon Graphics processor was introduced in 2019 as AMD's highest-performance entry-level processor.
Athlon comes from the Ancient Greek (''athlon''), meaning "(sport) contest", or "prize of a contest", or "place of a contest; arena". With the Athlon name originally used for AMD's high-end processors, AMD currently uses Athlon for budget APUs
with integrated graphics.
AMD positions the Athlon against its rival, the
Intel Pentium
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium processor from which the brand took its name was first released on March 22, 1993. After that, the Pentium II and P ...
.
Brand history
K7 design and development
The first Athlon processor was a result of AMD's development of K7 processors in the 1990s. AMD founder and then-CEO
Jerry Sanders aggressively pursued strategic partnerships and engineering talent in the late 1990s, working to build on earlier successes in the PC market with the
AMD K6
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...
processor line.
One major partnership announced in 1998 paired AMD with semiconductor giant
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
to co-develop
copper-based semiconductor technology, resulting in the K7 project being the first commercial processor to utilize copper
fabrication technology. In the announcement, Sanders referred to the partnership as creating a "virtual gorilla" that would enable AMD to compete with
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
on fabrication capacity while limiting AMD's financial outlay for new facilities.
The K7 design team was led by
Dirk Meyer
Derrick R. "Dirk" Meyer (born November 24, 1961) is a former Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Micro Devices, serving in the position from July 18, 2008 to January 10, 2011.
Education
He received a bachelor's degree in computer engineering ...
, who had previously worked as a lead engineer at
DEC on multiple
Alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
microprocessors. When DEC was sold to
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...
in 1998 and discontinued Alpha processor development, Sanders brought most of the Alpha design team to the K7 project. This added to the previously acquired
NexGen
NexGen (Milpitas, California) was a private semiconductor company that designed x86 microprocessors until it was purchased by AMD in 1996. NexGen was a fabless design house that designed its chips but relied on other companies for production. N ...
K6 team, which already included engineers such as
Vinod Dham
Vinod Dham is an Indian-American engineer, entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is known as 'Father of the Pentium Chip' for his contribution to the development of Intel's Pentium micro-processor He is a mentor, advisor and sits on the boa ...
.
Original release
The AMD Athlon processor launched on June 23, 1999, with general availability by August 1999. Subsequently, from August 1999 until January 2002, this initial K7 processor was the fastest x86 chip in the world.
Wrote the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' on October 5, 1999: "AMD has historically trailed Intel’s fastest processors, but has overtaken the industry leader with the new Athlon. Analysts say the Athlon, which will be used by
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...
,
IBM and other manufacturers in their most powerful PCs, is significantly faster than Intel’s flagship
Pentium III, which runs at a top speed of 600MHz."
A number of features helped the chips compete with Intel. By working with Motorola, AMD had been able to refine copper interconnect manufacturing about one year before Intel, with the revised process permitting
180-nanometer processor production. The accompanying die-shrink resulted in lower power consumption, permitting AMD to increase Athlon clock speeds to the 1 GHz range.
[.] The Athlon architecture also used the
EV6 bus licensed from DEC as its main system bus, allowing AMD to develop its own products without needing to license Intel's
GTL+ bus.
By the summer of 2000, AMD was shipping Athlons at high volume, and the chips were being used in systems by
Gateway,
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
, and
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH was a Japanese and German vendor of information technology. The company was founded in 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Fujitsu Limited of Japan and Siemens of Germany. On April 1, 2009, the company became F ...
among others.
Later Athlon iterations
The second-generation Athlon, the Thunderbird, debuted in 2000. AMD released the Athlon XP the following year,
and the Athlon XP's immediate successor, the
Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon#Athlo ...
, was an AMD64-architecture microprocessor released in 2003.
After the 2007 launch of the
Phenom
Phenom may refer to:
* AMD Phenom, the 64-bit AMD desktop processor line based on the K10 microarchitecture
** Phenom II, a family of AMD's multi-core 45 nm processors using the AMD K10 microarchitecture
* Phenom (electron microscope), a fast elec ...
processors, the Athlon name was also used for mid-range processors, positioned above brands such as
Sempron
Sempron has been the marketing name used by AMD for several different budget desktop CPUs, using several different technologies and CPU socket formats. The Sempron replaced the AMD Duron processor and competed against Intel's Celeron series of pr ...
. The
Athlon 64 X2 was released in 2005 as the first native dual-core desktop CPU designed by AMD,
and the
Athlon X2 was a subsequent family based on the Athlon 64 X2.
Introduced in 2009,
Athlon II was a dual-core family of Athlon chips.
A USD$55 low-power Athlon 200GE with a
Radeon
Radeon () is a brand of computer products, including graphics processing units, random-access memory, RAM disk software, and solid-state drives, produced by Radeon Technologies Group, a division of AMD. The brand was launched in 2000 by ATI Tech ...
graphics processor was introduced in September 2018, sitting under the
Ryzen 3 2200G.
This iteration of Athlon used AMD's Zen-based ''Raven Ridge'' core, which in turn had debuted in Ryzen with Radeon graphics processors.
With the release, AMD began using the Athlon brand name to refer to "low-cost, high-volume products", in a situation similar to both Intel's
Celeron
Celeron is Intel's brand name for low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers.
Celeron processors are compatible with IA-32
IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ...
and Pentium Gold.
The modern Athlon 3000G was introduced in 2019 and was positioned as AMD's highest-performance entry-level processor.
AMD positions the Athlon against its rival, the
Intel Pentium
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium processor from which the brand took its name was first released on March 22, 1993. After that, the Pentium II and P ...
. While CPU processing performance is in the same ballpark,
the Athlon 3000G uses
Radeon Vega graphics,
which are rated as more powerful than the Pentium's
Intel UHD Graphics.
Generations
Athlon Classic (1999)
The AMD Athlon processor launched on June 23, 1999, with general availability by August 1999. Subsequently, from August 1999 until January 2002, this initial K7 processor was the fastest x86 chip in the world.
At launch it was, on average, 10% faster than the Pentium III at the same clock for business applications and 20% faster for gaming workloads.
In commercial terms, the Athlon "Classic" was an enormous success.
;Features
The Athlon Classic is a cartridge-based processor, named
Slot A and similar to Intel's cartridge
Slot 1 used for Pentium II and Pentium III. It used the same, commonly available, physical 242-pin connector used by Intel Slot 1 processors but rotated by 180 degrees to connect the processor to the
motherboard
A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...
. The cartridge assembly allowed the use of higher-speed cache memory modules than could be put on (or reasonably bundled with) motherboards at the time. Similar to the Pentium II and the Katmai-based Pentium III, the Athlon Classic contained 512 KB of L2 cache. This high-speed
SRAM cache was run at a divisor of the processor clock and was accessed via its own 64-bit
back-side bus
In personal computer microprocessor architecture, a back-side bus (BSB), or backside bus, was a computer bus used on early Intel platforms to connect the CPU to CPU cache memory, usually off-die L2. If a design utilizes it along with a front-sid ...
, allowing the processor to service both
front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
requests and cache accesses simultaneously, as compared to pushing everything through the front-side bus.
[.]
The Argon-based Athlon contained 22 million transistors and measured 184 mm
2. It was fabricated by AMD in a version of their CS44E process, a 0.25 μm
complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
(CMOS) process with six levels of
aluminium interconnect In integrated circuits (ICs), interconnects are structures that connect two or more circuit elements (such as transistors) together electrically. The design and layout of interconnects on an IC is vital to its proper function, performance, power ef ...
.
[.][.] "Pluto" and "Orion" Athlons were fabricated in a 0.18 μm process.
The Athlon's
CPU cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which ...
consisted of the typical two levels. Athlon was the first x86 processor with a 128
KB split level-1 cache; a
2-way associative cache separated into 2×64 KB for data and instructions (a concept from
Harvard architecture
The Harvard architecture is a computer architecture with separate storage and signal pathways for instructions and data. It contrasts with the von Neumann architecture, where program instructions and data share the same memory and pathways.
...
).
SRAM cache designs at the time were incapable of keeping up with the Athlon's clock scalability, resulting in compromised CPU clock speeds in some computers.
[.] With later Athlon models, AMD would integrate the L2 cache onto the processor itself, removing dependence on external cache chips.
The Slot-A Athlons were the first multiplier-locked CPUs from AMD, preventing users from setting their own desired clock speed. This was done by AMD in part to hinder CPU remarking and overclocking by resellers, which could result in inconsistent performance. Eventually a product called the "Goldfingers device" was created that could unlock the CPU.
[.]
AMD designed the CPU with more robust x86 instruction decoding capabilities than that of K6, to enhance its ability to keep more data in-flight at once.
[.] The critical branch-predictor unit was enhanced compared to the K6. Deeper pipelining with more stages allowed higher clock speeds to be attained.
[De Gelas, Johan]
The Secrets of High Performance CPUs, Part 1
Ace's Hardware, September 29, 1999. Like the AMD K5 and K6, the Athlon dynamically buffered internal micro-instructions at runtime resulting from parallel x86 instruction decoding. The CPU is an
out-of-order design, again like previous post-5x86 AMD CPUs. The Athlon utilizes the
Alpha 21264
The Alpha 21264 is a Digital Equipment Corporation RISC microprocessor launched on 19 October 1998. The 21264 implemented the Alpha instruction set architecture (ISA).
Description
The Alpha 21264 is a four-issue superscalar microprocessor with o ...
's EV6 bus architecture with
double data rate
In computing, a computer bus operating with double data rate (DDR) transfers data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal. This is also known as double pumped, dual-pumped, and double transition. The term toggle mode is used i ...
(DDR) technology.
AMD ended its long-time handicap with
floating point
In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic that represents real numbers approximately, using an integer with a fixed precision, called the significand, scaled by an integer exponent of a fixed base. For example, 12.345 can be ...
x87 performance by designing a super-
pipelined, out-of-order, triple-issue
floating-point unit
In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic that represents real numbers approximately, using an integer with a fixed precision, called the significand, scaled by an integer exponent of a fixed base. For example, 12.345 can b ...
(FPU).
Each of its three units could independently calculate an optimal type of instructions with some redundancy, making it possible to operate on more than one floating-point instruction at once.
This FPU was a huge step forward for AMD, helping compete with Intel's
P6 FPU.
[.] The
3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
floating-point
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) is a type of parallel processing in Flynn's taxonomy. SIMD can be internal (part of the hardware design) and it can be directly accessible through an instruction set architecture (ISA), but it should ...
technology, again present, received some revisions and was renamed "Enhanced 3DNow!" Additions included
DSP
DSP may refer to:
Computing
* Digital signal processing, the mathematical manipulation of an information signal
* Digital signal processor, a microprocessor designed for digital signal processing
* Yamaha DSP-1, a proprietary digital signal ...
instructions and the
extended MMX Extended MMX refers to one of two possible extensions to the MMX instruction set for x86.
Intel Extended MMX
Included in Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions were a number of new instructions that extended the functionality of MMX. AMD incorpora ...
subset of
Intel SSE.
[.]
;Specifications
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (data + instructions)
* L2-cache: 512 KB, external chips on CPU module with 50%, 40% or 33% of CPU speed
*
MMX,
3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
*
Slot A
Slot A is the physical and electrical specification for a 242-lead single-edge-connector used by early versions of AMD's Athlon processor.
The Slot A connector allows for a higher bus rate than Socket 7 or Super Socket 7. Slot A motherboards use ...
(EV6)
*
Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 200 MT/s (100 MHz double-pumped)
* Vcore: 1.6 V (K7), 1.6–1.8 V (K75)
* First release: June 23, 1999 (K7), November 29, 1999 (K75)
* Clock-rate: 500–700 MHz (K7), 550–1000 MHz (K75)
Athlon Thunderbird (2000–2001)
![KL AMD Athlon XP Thunderbird](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/KL_AMD_Athlon_XP_Thunderbird.jpg)
The second-generation Athlon, the Thunderbird or T-Bird, debuted on June 4, 2000.
This version of the Athlon was available in a traditional
pin-grid array (PGA) format that plugged into a socket ("
Socket A") on the motherboard, or packaged as a Slot A cartridge. The major difference between it and the Athlon Classic was cache design, with AMD adding in 256 KB of on-chip, full-speed exclusive cache.
[ In moving to an exclusive cache design, the L1 cache's contents were not duplicated in the L2, increasing total cache size and functionally creating a large L1 cache with a slower region (the L2) and a fast region (the L1),][.] making the L2 cache into basically a victim cache A victim cache is a small, usually fully associative cache placed in the refill path of a CPU cache that stores all the blocks evicted from that level of cache, originally proposed in 1990. In modern architectures, this function is typically perform ...
. With the new cache design, need for high L2 performance and size was lessened, and the simpler L2 cache was less likely to cause clock scaling and yield issues. Thunderbird also moved to a 16-way associative layout.[.]
The Thunderbird was "cherished by many for its overclockability" and proved commercially successful, as AMD's most successful product since the Am386DX-40 ten years earlier. AMD's new fab facility in Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
increased production for AMD overall and put out Thunderbirds at a fast rate, with the process technology improved by a switch to copper interconnects. After several versions were released in 2000 and 2001 of the Thunderbird, the last Athlon processor using the Thunderbird core was released in 2001 in the summer, at which point speeds were at 1.4 GHz.
The locked multipliers of Socket A Thunderbirds could often be disabled through adding conductive bridges on the surface on the chip, a practice widely known as "the pencil trick".
;Specifications
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (data + instructions)
* L2-cache: 256 KB, full speed
* MMX, 3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
* Slot A
Slot A is the physical and electrical specification for a 242-lead single-edge-connector used by early versions of AMD's Athlon processor.
The Slot A connector allows for a higher bus rate than Socket 7 or Super Socket 7. Slot A motherboards use ...
& Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
(EV6)
* Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 100 MHz (Slot-A, B-models), 133 MHz (C-models) (200 MT/s, 266 MT/s)
* Vcore: 1.70–1.75 V
* First release: June 4, 2000
* Transistor count: 37 million
* Manufacturing process: 0.18 μm/180 nm
* Clock rate:
** Slot A
Slot A is the physical and electrical specification for a 242-lead single-edge-connector used by early versions of AMD's Athlon processor.
The Slot A connector allows for a higher bus rate than Socket 7 or Super Socket 7. Slot A motherboards use ...
: 650–1000 MHz
** Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
, 100 MHz FSB (B-models): 600–1400 MHz
** Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
, 133 MHz FSB (C-models): 1000–1400 MHz
Athlon XP (2001–2003)
Overall, there are four main variants of the Athlon XP desktop CPU: the ''Palomino'', the ''Thoroughbred'', the ''Thorton'', and the ''Barton''. A number of mobile processors were also released, including the ''Corvette'' models, and the ''Dublin'' model among others.
''Palomino''
On May 14, 2001, AMD released the Athlon XP processor. It debuted as the Mobile Athlon 4, a mobile version codenamed ''Corvette'', with the desktop Athlon XP released in the fall. The third-generation Athlon, code-named ''Palomino'', came out on October 9, 2001, as the Athlon XP, with the suffix signifying ''extended performance'' and unofficially referencing Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...
.[.] ''Palomino's'' design used 180 nm fabrication process size. The Athlon XP was marketed using a performance rating
The PR (Performance Rating, P-rating) system was a figure of merit developed by AMD, Cyrix, IBM Microelectronics and SGS-Thomson in the mid-1990s (Cyrix announced it in February 1996) as a method of comparing their x86 processors to those of ri ...
(PR) system comparing it to the Thunderbird predecessor core.[.] Among other changes, ''Palomino'' consumed 20% less power than the Thunderbird, comparatively reducing heat output,[.] and was roughly 10% faster than Thunderbird. ''Palomino'' also had enhanced K7's TLB architecture and included a hardware data prefetch
Prefetching in computer science is a technique for speeding up fetch operations by beginning a fetch operation whose result is expected to be needed soon. Usually this is before it is ''known'' to be needed, so there is a risk of wasting time by p ...
mechanism to take better advantage of memory bandwidth. ''Palomino'' was the first K7 core to include the full SSE instruction set from the Intel Pentium III, as well as AMD's 3DNow! Professional.[.] ''Palomino'' was also the first socketed Athlon officially supporting dual processing, with chips certified for that purpose branded as the Athlon MP (multi processing), which had different specifications. According to HardwareZone
HardwareZone is an information technology, IT-oriented Internet portal based in Singapore. It is operated by Hardware Zone Private Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPH Media Trust. Some features of the portal are: IT price lists for ...
, it was possible to modify the Athlon XP to function as an MP.
;Specifications
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (data + instructions)
* L2-cache: 256 KB, full speed
* MMX, 3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
, SSE
* Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
(EV6)
* Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 133 MHz (266 MT/s)
* Vcore: 1.50 to 1.75 V
* Power consumption: 68 W
* First release: October 9, 2001
* Clock-rate:
** Athlon 4: 850–1400 MHz
** Athlon XP: 1333–1733 MHz (1500+ to 2100+)
** Athlon MP: 1000–1733 MHz
''Thoroughbred''
The fourth-generation of Athlon was introduced with the ''Thoroughbred'' core, or ''T-Bred'', on April 17, 2002.[.] The ''Thoroughbred'' core marked AMD's first production 130 nm silicon, with smaller die size than its predecessor. There came to be two steppings (revisions) of this core commonly referred to as ''Tbred-A'' and ''Tbred-B''. Introduced in June 2002, the initial A version was mostly a direct die shrink
The term die shrink (sometimes optical shrink or process shrink) refers to the scaling of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices. The act of shrinking a die is to create a somewhat identical circuit using a more advanced fabrication process, us ...
of the preceding ''Palomino'' core, but did not significantly increase clock speeds over the ''Palomino''. A revised ''Thoroughbred'' core, ''Thoroughbred-B'', added a ninth "metal layer" to the eight-layered ''Thoroughbred-A'', offering improvement in headroom over the A and making it popular for overclocking.[.]
;Specifications
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (data + instructions)
* L2-cache: 256 KB, full speed
* MMX, 3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
, SSE
* Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
(EV6)
* Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 133/166 MHz (266/333 MT/s)
* Vcore: 1.50–1.65 V
* First release: June 10, 2002 (A), August 21, 2002 (B)
* Clock-rate:
** Thoroughbred "A": 1400–1800 MHz (1600+ to 2200+)
** Thoroughbred "B": 1400–2250 MHz (1600+ to 2800+)
** 133 MHz FSB: 1400–2133 MHz (1600+ to 2600+)
** 166 MHz FSB: 2083–2250 MHz (2600+ to 2800+)
''Barton'' / ''Thorton''
Fifth-generation Athlon ''Barton''-core processors were released in early 2003. While not operating at higher clock rates than ''Thoroughbred''-core processors, they featured an increased L2 cache, and later models had an increased 200 MHz (400 MT/s) front side bus.[.] The ''Thorton'' core, a blend of ''thoroughbred'' and ''Barton'', was a later variant of the ''Barton'' with half of the L2 cache disabled. The ''Barton'' was used to officially introduce a higher 400 MT/s bus clock for the Socket A platform, which was used to gain some ''Barton'' models more efficiency. By this point with the ''Barton'', the four-year-old Athlon EV6 bus architecture had scaled to its limit and required a redesign to exceed the performance of newer Intel processors. By 2003, the Pentium 4
Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 2000 u ...
had become more than competitive with AMD's processors,[.] and ''Barton'' only saw a small performance increase over the ''Thoroughbred-B'' it derived from, insufficient to outperform the Pentium 4. The K7-derived Athlons such as ''Barton'' were replaced in September 2003 by the Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon#Athlo ...
family, which featured an on-chip memory controller and a new HyperTransport
HyperTransport (HT), formerly known as Lightning Data Transport, is a technology for interconnection of computer processors. It is a bidirectional serial/parallel high-bandwidth, low- latency point-to-point link that was introduced on April 2 ...
bus.
Notably, the 2500+ Barton with 11× multiplier was effectively identical to the 3200+ part other than the FSB speed it was binned for, meaning that seamless overclocking was possible more often than not. Early Thortons could be restored to the full Barton specification with the enabling of the other half of the L2 cache from a slight CPU surface modification, but the result was not always reliable.
;Specifications:
''Barton (130 nm)''
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (data + instructions)
* L2-cache: 512 KB, full speed
* MMX, 3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
, SSE
* Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
(EV6)
* Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 166/200 MHz (333/400 MT/s)
* Vcore: 1.65 V
* First release: February 10, 2003
* Clock rate: 1833–2333 MHz (2500+ to 3200+)
** 133 MHz FSB: 1867–2133 MHz (2500+ to 2800+); uncommon
** 166 MHz FSB: 1833–2333 MHz (2500+ to 3200+)
** 200 MHz FSB: 2100, 2200 MHz (3000+, 3200+)
''Thorton (130 nm)''
* L1-cache: 64 + 64 KB (Data + Instructions)
* L2-cache: 256 KB, full speed
* MMX, 3DNow!
3DNow! is a deprecated extension to the x86 instruction set developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It adds single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions to the base x86 instruction set, enabling it to perform vector processing of float ...
, SSE
* Socket A
Socket A (also known as Socket 462) is a zero insertion force pin grid array (PGA) CPU socket used for AMD processors ranging from the Athlon Thunderbird to the Athlon XP/MP 3200+, and AMD budget processors including the Duron and Sempron. Soc ...
(EV6)
* Front-side bus
A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...
: 133/166/200 MHz (266/333/400 MT/s)
* Vcore: 1.50–1.65 V
* First release: September 2003
* Clock rate: 1667–2200 MHz (2000+ to 3100+)
** 133 MHz FSB: 1600–2133 MHz (2000+ to 2600+)
** 166 MHz FSB: 2083 MHz (2600+)
** 200 MHz FSB: 2200 MHz (3100+)
Mobile Athlon XP
The ''Palomino'' core debuted in the mobile market before the PC market, where it was branded as Mobile Athlon 4 with the codename "Corvette". It distinctively used a ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
interposer
An interposer is an electrical interface routing between one socket or connection to another. The purpose of an interposer is to spread a connection to a wider pitch or to reroute a connection to a different connection.
Interposer comes from t ...
much like the ''Thunderbird'' instead of the organic pin grid array package used on all later ''Palomino'' processors. In November 2001, AMD released a 1.2 GHz Athlon 4 and a 950 MHz Duron. The Mobile Athlon 4 processors included the PowerNow!
__NOTOC__
AMD PowerNow! is AMD's dynamic frequency scaling and power saving technology for laptop processors. The CPU's clock speed and VCore are automatically decreased when the computer is under low load or idle, to save battery power, reduce ...
function, which controlled a laptop's "level of processor performance by dynamically adjusting its operating frequency and voltage according to the task at hand", thus extending "battery life by reducing processor power when it isn't needed by applications". Duron chips also included PowerNow! In 2002, AMD released a version of PowerNow! called Cool'n'Quiet
AMD Cool'n'Quiet is a CPU dynamic frequency scaling and power saving technology introduced by AMD with its Athlon XP processor line. It works by reducing the processor's clock rate and voltage when the processor is idle. The aim of this techn ...
, implemented on the Athlon XP but only adjusting clock speed instead of voltage.
In 2002 the Athlon XP-M (Mobile Athlon XP) replaced the Mobile Athlon 4 using the newer ''Thoroughbred'' core, with ''Barton'' cores for full-size notebooks. The Athlon XP-M was also offered in a compact microPGA socket 563 version. Mobile XPs were not multiplier-locked, making them popular with desktop overclockers
In computing, overclocking is the practice of increasing the clock rate of a computer to exceed that certified by the manufacturer. Commonly, operating voltage is also increased to maintain a component's operational stability at accelerated spe ...
.
Athlon 64 (2003–2009)
The immediate successor to the Athlon XP, the Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon#Athlo ...
is an AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by AMD, released on September 23, 2003. A number of variations, all named after cities, were released with 90 nm architecture in 2004 and 2005. Versions released in 2007 and 2009 utilized 65 nm architecture.
Athlon 64 X2 (2005–2009)
The Athlon 64 X2
The Athlon 64 X2 is the first native dual-core desktop central processing unit (CPU) designed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It was designed from scratch as native dual-core by using an already multi-CPU enabled Athlon 64, joining it with anoth ...
was released in 2005 as the first native dual-core desktop CPU designed by AMD using an Athlon 64. The Athlon X2 was a subsequent family of microprocessors based on the Athlon 64 X2. The original ''Brisbane'' Athlon X2 models used 65 nm architecture and were released in 2007.
Athlon II (2009–2012)
Athlon II
Athlon II is a family of AMD multi-core 45 nm central processing units, which is aimed at the budget to mid-range market and is a complementary product lineup to the Phenom II.
Features
The Athlon II series is based on the AMD K10 architect ...
is a family of central processing units. Initially a dual-core version of the Athlon II, the K-10-based '' Regor'' was released in June 2009 with 45-nanometer architecture. This was followed by a single-core version ''Sargas'', followed by the quad-core ''Propus'', the triple-core ''Rana'' in November 2009, and the ''Llano'' 32 nm version released in 2011.
Zen-based Athlon (2018–present)
The Zen-based Athlon with Radeon
Radeon () is a brand of computer products, including graphics processing units, random-access memory, RAM disk software, and solid-state drives, produced by Radeon Technologies Group, a division of AMD. The brand was launched in 2000 by ATI Tech ...
graphics processors was launched in September 2018 with the Athlon 200GE. Based on AMD's ''Raven Ridge'' core previously used in variants of the Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5
Ryzen ( ) is a brand of multi-core x86-64 microprocessors designed and marketed by AMD for desktop, mobile, server, and embedded platforms based on the Zen microarchitecture. It consists of central processing units (CPUs) marketed for mains ...
, the Athlon 200GE had half of the cores but left SMT enabled. It also kept the same 4 MiB L3 cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...
, but the L2 cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...
was halved to 1 MiB.
In addition, the number of graphics compute units was limited to 3 in the Athlon 200GE, and the chip was multiplier-locked. Despite its limitations, the Athlon 200GE performed competitively against the 5000-series Intel Pentium-G, displaying similar CPU performance but an advantage in GPU performance.
On November 19, 2019, AMD released the Athlon 3000G, with a higher 3.5 GHz core clock and 1100 MHz graphics clock compared to the Athlon 200GE, also with two cores. The main functional difference between the 200GE was the Athlon 3000G's unlocked multiplier, allowing the latter to be overclocked on B450
This is an overview of chipsets sold under the AMD brand, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of AMD mobile platform#Open platform approach, open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Techno ...
and X470
This is an overview of chipsets sold under the AMD brand, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of AMD mobile platform#Open platform approach, open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Techno ...
motherboards.
;Specifications
''Raven Ridge'' (14 nm), ''Picasso'' (12 nm) ''(see the list article for more details)''
* L1 cache: 192 KiB (2×64 KiB + 2×32 KiB)
* L2 cache: 1 MiB (2×512 KiB)
* L3 cache: 4 MiB
* Memory: dual-channel DDR4-2666, 64 GiB max.
* Socket AM4
* TDP: 35 W
* First release: September 6, 2018
* CPU clock rate: 3.2 to 3.5 GHz
* GPU clock rate: 1000 to 1100 MHz
Supercomputers
A number of supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...
s have been built using Athlon chips, largely at universities. Among them:
* In 2000, several American students claimed to have built the world's least expensive supercomputer by clustering 64 AMD Athlon chips together, also marking the first time Athlons had been clustered in a supercomputer.
* The PRESTO III, a Beowulf cluster
A Beowulf cluster is a computer cluster of what are normally identical, commodity-grade computers networked into a small local area network with libraries and programs installed which allow processing to be shared among them. The result is a hig ...
of 78 AMD Athlon processors, was built in 2001 by the Tokyo Institute of Technology
is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as ...
. That year it ranked 439 on the TOP500
The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful non-distributed computing, distributed computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year. The first of these ...
list of supercomputers.
* In 2002, a "128-Node 256-Processor AMD Athlon Supercomputer Cluster" was installed at the Ohio Supercomputer Center
The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a supercomputer facility located on the western end of the Ohio State University campus, just north of Columbus. Established in 1987, the OSC partners with Ohio universities, labs and industries, providing st ...
at the University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...
.
* Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, Department of Physics & Astronomy. Machine: NOW Cluster—AMD Athlon. CPU: 512 AthlonMP (1.65 GHz). Rmax: 794 GFLOPS
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
.
See also
* CPU features table
* List of AMD Duron processors
* List of AMD Phenom processors
The AMD Phenom family is a 64-bit microprocessor family from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), based on the K10 microarchitecture. It includes the AMD Phenom II X6 hex-core series, Phenom X4 and Phenom II X4 quad-core series, Phenom X3 and Phenom II ...
* List of AMD Opteron processors
Opteron is the name of a central processing unit (CPU) family within the AMD64 line. Designed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for the server market, Opteron competed with Intel's Xeon. The Opteron family is succeeded by the Zen-based Epyc, and Ry ...
* List of AMD Sempron processors
The Sempron is a name used for AMD's low-end CPUs, replacing the Duron processor. The name was introduced in 2004, and processors with this name continued to be available for the FM2/FM2+ socket in 2015.
Features overview
CPU features table
Desk ...
References
External links
Website
{{AMD_processors
Computer-related introductions in 1999
Advanced Micro Devices x86 microprocessors
Advanced Micro Devices microarchitectures
Superscalar microprocessors