AMD Beats Intel To 1GHz Mark

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. beat Intel Corp. to the gigahertz milestone last week, launching a 1GHz Athlon processor two days before archrival Intel introduced its own super-fast chip.

AMD, based here, touted its gigahertz victory, but Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel quickly followed with the release of a 1GHz Pentium III processor.

The chip makers were locked in a tight race to reach the gigahertz milestone, leapfrogging each other in clock speed for the last several months.

"Introduction of a PC processor capable of executing one billion clock cycles per second is our industry's equivalent of breaking the sound barrier," said Jerry Sanders, AMD's chairman and chief executive. "AMD plans to lead in the gigahertz era."

Intel executives responded by describing the 1GHz Pentium III as the "world's highest-performance PC processor."

The chip is available in limited quantities, Intel said. At $990 in 1,000-unit quantities, the 1GHz Pentium III seems pricey, but it is less expensive than AMD's $1,299 price for volume quantities.

AMD appears to have won another "notch in their belt" by beating Intel to 1GHz, said Jason Simonds, principal owner of DCC Inc., a system builder in Damariscotta, Maine. However, the clock speed race is more about hype and bragging rights, he said.

In addition to the 1GHz Athlon, AMD also launched Athlons operating at 900MHz and 950MHz, priced at $899 and $999, respectively, in volume.

Gateway Inc., San Diego, and Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, both unveiled PCs based on the 1GHz Athlon.

Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif., IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., and Dell Computer Corp., Round Rock, Texas, unveiled systems based on the 1GHz Pentium III. CRN