With their fastest processor ever, AMD promises to meet demand.

AMD determined to rattle Intel out of the entry-level computer market as it readies its 400MHz K6-2 for release by the end of the year.

AMD's newest 350MHz CPU sometimes speeds past Win95's boot-up process (and what doesn't?). May prompt a software timing loop error. Microsoft has a fix, but it may cost you...

With its latest earnings up, a new deal with Sony, and climbing market share against Intel, AMD continues to demonstrate that competition in the CPU market is not dead.

The rumours are true. Three new AMD processors, running at 366, 380 and 400MHz, were announced today to coincide with the opening of Comdex '98. No official benchmark data published yet, but check the CPU Scorecard rankings for our estimates based on past performance. Stay tuned for the hard data as soon as it's available.

While Intel mimics Cyrix, AMD will mimic Intel with a Slot-1esque design for its newest flagchip. Double the bus speed. Double the floating point speed. And all the 3D-Now! Should be a winner.

Previously reported in September, a Windows 95 glitch sometime halts boot-up on a PC running a K6-2 350MHz (or higher) CPU. A software timing loop problem, Microsoft developed a fix but was charging up to $35 to those users who needed it. Only Windows 95 users were affected ('98 & NT were fixed previously), and not many at that. But now the patch is available direct from AMD. For free.
Win95 SR2 (4.00.95B) only. Most everyone else running machines that fast will likely have upgraded anyway.

Though not officially released yet, benchmarks of AMD's new K6-3 (code-named Sharptooth) have been published on the AnandTech site. The preliminary numbers show that Sharptooth outperforms Intel's Pentium II at the same clock speed. Find out where these new chips rank in our own benchmark roster.

National Semiconductor will now try to revive the Cyrix line.

Will IBM turn to IDT's WinChip for a foothold in the CPU market?

Intel notes some computer makers are finding P2-266 & 300 CPU's in short supply. Claims inventory bottleneck. Perhaps related to recent price increases in said chips? Faster (and pricier) processors unaffected.

Intel puts the cache back in its Celeron to get more cash out, and adds a new performance leader.

Now you'll be able to view all your DVD movies on the plane, starting at around $3600US.

In an announcement that made even my head spin around, Intel revealed that it plans to resurrect pin-based socket architecture for its next Celeron chips.

You'll remember that Intel poo-pooed the Socket-7, still performing with excellent results for its competitors, in favour of its arguably better (and Intel-patented) Slot-1 design. Now Intel wants to put its new Celerons back in the socket. Not Socket-7, of course, but something new and again proprietary.

Is Intel conceding again that it cannot compete on a level motherboard playing field with AMD and Cyrix et al? It seems they would rather try to gain market share by creating another incompatible motherboard design than by actually furthering chip technology.

Well--maybe some people are. But if there's any anticipation for Intel's newest generation of processors, with an expanded multimedia instruction set squarely aimed at competing with AMD's 3D-Now technology, it's not very evident. Computer sales are climbing as we rush into the holiday season. Unlike a couple of years ago, Santa's not waiting for Intel.

Seeing entry-level PC market share going to AMD, Intel plans to foray into more integrated chipset designs, a strategy pioneered by Cyrix. Ironically, Cyrix isn't making many gains with this strategy so far.

This week, SiS; last week, VIA Technologies--both have now signed agreements with Intel to produce chipsets for the Pentium II line. With the onset of the Pentium II, chipsets (the controllers between the CPU and the rest of the motherboard components and peripherals) became an exclusive domain of Intel. Other chipset manufacturers were relegated to supporting only AMD, Cyrix, and Intel's other rivals. More competition in this area should provide better features at lower overall prices for machines with Intel inside.

Though Intel so far refuses comment, PC hardware & software makers are concerned about new security functions planned for chipsets accompanying the Katmai and newer CPU's. These 'features' could shut down operating systems or software not meeting Intel's authentication or copyright protocols. Direct support of data encryption over the internet and tamper-proofing of networked PC's are some of the intended 'benefits'. But your next BIOS or software upgrades and other system capabilities may soon be more widely controlled (or at least monitored) by Intel.

Starting Jan. 4, Intel will be unveiling faster Xeons, Celerons, Pentium II's, and its new Katmai line. AMD to follow suit with faster K6-2's and its new K6-3 for notebooks. If you haven't bought that Christmas computer yet, maybe wait awhile for better deals coming soon...

ZD Net's Jesse Berst reviews the pro's and con's...
Update: Though the iMac's G3 may benchmark faster, PC's may perform better overall!

Including, among several others, the appropriately named Rise MP6 coming in October.
Stay tuned!

The Microprocessor Forum wraps up, and it looks like the race to establish the fastest, most popular chips in the land may sacrifice compatibility, as the major players race off in different directions.

Secretive Transmeta CPU technology starting to be revealed with new patents granted. Smaller, faster, cheaper than Intel--a significant new competitor, or just another X-File? Time will tell...

Traditionally seen as an environmentally benign industry, the semiconductor business is having to face up to its not-so-benign impacts. The chips in your computer are low-power, clean, and green. But the volumes of chemical by-products required to make them that way are starting to be noticed in Silicon Valley water supplies and health surveys.

The U.S. semiconductor industry will partner with university researchers and Department of Defence funding in a $600 million-dollar bid to advance chip technology over the next 10 years. More research should help maintain Moore's Law. But D.O.D. involvement might more likely invoke Murphy's Law.