The K7 is promised to run at 600 MHz when made with AMD's current 0.25-micron process.
Later this year, the company's move to a 0.18-micron process will shrink the K7 and make higher speeds possible.
Scheduled for release in the second quarter of 1999, the K7 will run at clock speeds of 500MHz and higher.
According to AMD, both Acer Laboratories and Via Technologies have committed to developing chip sets for the company's next-generation K7 processor.
The K7 claims superior integer performance and even better floating point, with three floating-point units on board to the Pentium III's two.
They think the K7 will be a big winner if AMD can make it in sufficient volume at the highest clock speeds.
When the K7's on-chip 128KB L1 cache becomes too small, the K7 will call on the 200-MHz EV6 bus developed for Digital's Alpha processors.
Companies that have seldom sold AMD systems now fret about the possibility of competing with the K7, which may substantially outperform anything in Intel's arsenal for the next several months.
If fast enough memory can be had, the EV6 bus will give the K7 a big edge over the Pentium III -- Intel's current top bus speed is 100 MHz.
On the other hand, if the K7 keeps AMD's promises, it may heighten competition and lead to price cuts not only in the budget sector but also at the top of the line.
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