AMD rolls out a new processor

Suggesting the importance of Korean computer users in the global marketplace, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. dispatched its executive vice president, Rob Herb, to Seoul yesterday to roll out the firm’s new 64-bit processor chip. AMD is a California chipmaker and the major competitor of Intel to supply the brain of your personal computer. Although little software is yet available for the 64-bit processor, Mr. Herb predicted that the new chips would begin to replace the now-dominant 32-bit processors beginning next year. “The 64-bit processor will provide computer users with multimedia environments drastically different from what we have now,” Mr. Herb said. He is AMD’s chief sales and marketing officer. AMD’s new chip is the first 64-bit chip aimed at home users. Intel’s 64-bit chip is used almost exclusively in servers. The new chip is representative of another doubling of some aspects of a computer’s speed and processing power; the first IBM personal computers in 1980 used eight-bit processors; 16-bit versions appeared the following year and 32-bit processors were rolled out in 1988. The number of bits ― electrical representations of either the digit 0 or 1 ― that a computer can process is a major determinant of a computer’s processing power and speed. Because that processing speed doubles with the addition of every bit, a 64-bit computer has in theory 4.3 billion times the processing power of the 32-bit chip. That, Mr. Herb said, makes the new chip a strong contender for applications like multimedia or three-dimensional games. “The launch of the Athlon 64 indicates AMD has won over its rival in the technology competition,” Mr. Herb boasted, referring to Intel. He predicted that the new chip would open the door to an ultrahigh-speed multimedia age. First, though, software has to be written or rewritten to take advantage of that speed. While the Athlon 64 will run 32-bit software, users would see little difference in performance, technical analysts note. Mr. Herb said AMD would produce several million of the new chips per quarter next year; he predicted that sales of 64-bit chips would match those of older models in personal computer by next summer. AMD had $2.7 billion in sales last year. by Kim Chang-gyu