This article is more than 1 year old

AMD ships 1.53GHz Athlon MP

QuantiSpeed comes to dual-CPU systems

AMD announced three faster Athlon MP processors this morning, as we predicted a wee while back, running at 1.33, 1.40 and 1.53GHz, respectively.

And - surprise, surprise - the new parts are named according to AMD's new relative performance naming scheme. Last week, AMD's PC processor chief, Dirk Meyer, said the company would be bringing the new model numbers, introduced with the desktop Athlon XP, to its other processor.

We had been expecting the MPs to ship ahead of the XP - which launched last week - but the dates are close enough (AMD sources have said in the past precise launch times are something of a moveable feast) and, in any case, it makes sense to launch the new MPs after the XP, so AMD can follow up its XP-centred QuantiSpeed marchitecture launch by admitting the MP contained that 'technology' all along.

Faster the new Athlon MPs may be, but they still don't appear to have brought AMD closer to any major design contracts than their 1.2GHz predecessor did. AMD clearly hopes their performance advantage will help - the company claims a dual 1.53GHz machine is 23 per cent faster than a two-CPU 1.7GHz Xeon-based box.

But as one workstation maker told us t'other week: "What's the yardstick? I can show you applications under which a dual 1.2GHz Athlon MP beats a dual 1.7GHz Xeon system hands down. But I can also show other apps where it underperforms compared to the Xeon. So does that make it a 1600+ or a 1700+ model?"

The 1.33, 1.4 and 1.53GHz Athlon MPs are priced at $180, $210 and $302, respectively, and their model numbers are 1500+, 1600+ and 1800+. ®

Bootnote

AMD is also expected to spill the beans about its Hammer 64-bit processor family today - this afternoon, California-time, to be precise. Check back with The Reg for a full update.

Related Stories

AMD to bring performance ratings to other CPUs
AMD confirms QuantiSpeed marchitecture slogan
Speed-bumped AMD Athlon MP to launch next month

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like