PROCESSORS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced the new AMD Athlon(TM) XP processor, reportedly the world's highest-performance processor for desktop PCs. AMD also announced plans to drive an initiative to develop a reliable processor performance metric that PC users can trust. The True Performance Initiative reflects AMD's continued commitment to business and home PC users. "For most of the PC's first 20 years, megahertz was a reliable indicator of PC processor performance because the major players used the same architecture for product design, and clock speed was a good proxy for performance. This is no longer true," said W.J. Sanders III, AMD chairman and chief executive officer. "The award-winning performance of our seventh-generation AMD Athlon processor architecture demonstrates that clock speed is only half of the performance equation. With our new AMD Athlon XP processor, AMD again accelerates innovation, reduces system cost while delivering the fastest application performance, and places the consumer at the forefront of digital technology." Through the True Performance Initiative, or TPI, AMD is setting out to assist customers in understanding the benefits of PC performance. TPI also will help define a new, more accurate measure of processor performance for standard applications. The initiative will be chaired by Patrick Moorhead, who has been appointed as AMD's Vice President of Customer Advocacy, reporting to the Office of the CEO. Historically, x86 microprocessors have improved both instructions (work) per clock and frequency compared to older generations. However, this is not true with some processors today. Therefore, megahertz cannot be solely relied upon as a measure of system performance. "Consumers are beginning to understand that the true indicator of performance is how fast their applications run, not the megahertz of their processor. Megahertz measures only how many cycles per second the engine spins, not how much torque it delivers," said Roger Kay, director of client computing at IDC. AMD introduced its brand-new processor for high-performance desktop computers, the AMD Athlon XP processor, formerly codenamed "Palomino." The AMD Athlon XP processor features the new, patented QuantiSpeed(TM) architecture, which delivers up to a 25-percent performance advantage versus competitive processors on a broad array of real-world applications, in such categories as digital media, office productivity, and 3D gaming. The new AMD Athlon XP processor offers a significant performance advantage compared to the standard AMD Athlon processor. The new processor also includes 3DNow!(TM) Professional technology, which adds 52 new instructions, accelerating 3D performance for digital media applications such as photo, video and audio editing. The AMD Athlon "XP" modifier is designed to convey the extreme performance AMD Athlon XP processors deliver for the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP operating system. AMD will identify the AMD Athlon XP processor using model numbers, as opposed to clock speed in megahertz, and is introducing 1800+, 1700+, 1600+ and 1500+ versions. Model numbers are intended to designate the relative application performance among the various AMD Athlon XP processors, as well as communicate the architectural superiority over existing AMD Athlon processors. The AMD Athlon XP processor features 384KB of on-chip, full-speed cache. It is compatible with AMD's Socket A infrastructure, and supports an advanced 266MHz front-side bus. AMD Athlon XP processors are manufactured using AMD's 0.18-micron copper process technology in Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany. Andersen Audits AMD Athlon(TM) XP Processor Performance AMD's design excellence and architectural superiority of its PC processors are proven in various third-party benchmark tests that represent a broad array of real-world applications. The benchmarks used to demonstrate the relative performance of the AMD Athlon XP processor are representative of the various ways end users use their PCs, including digital media, office productivity and 3D gaming. "Andersen's independent examination of the AMD Athlon XP processor performance benchmarks has included observations and tests of the system configuration, procedures and the recording of results," said Edward Hill, partner in Andersen's Risk Consulting group. "Andersen's examination will enhance consumer confidence in benchmark results." Andersen's audit results are available on the AMD Web site at: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_756_3 734^3746,00.html