Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) released on Monday a version of its Athlon processor running at 1.1GHz. More than 10 PC manufacturers have announced plans to offer systems based on the chip, AMD said.
Among the major vendors committed to using the chip are IBM Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Fujitsu Siemens Computers BV, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Gateway Inc., AMD said in a statement.
Of those companies, Gateway is taking orders immediately for the new systems, as are seven smaller manufacturers, AMD said.
Compaq will be offering a 1.1GHz Presario desktop system and Hewlett-Packard will use the chip in its Pavilion range, according to AMD.
The 1.1GHz Athlon offers up to 10 percent more performance than the 1GHz version of the processor on relevant industry standard benchmarks, AMD claimed.
The launch of the faster AMD processor is a reply to rival Intel Corp., which announced shipment of limited quantities of its 1.13GHz Pentium III chip on July 31.
The 1.1GHz Athlon will sell for US$853 in quantities of 1,000 units, with systems based on the chip expected to be priced around $2,500, AMD announced earlier this month. [See "1.1GHz Athlon Systems Due This Month," Aug. 14.]AMD, in Sunnyvale, California, can be reached at +1-408-732-2400, or via the Web at http://www.amd.com/.