Conclusion

That's all for now!

AMD's Athlon processor is a design built from the ground up, and you can expect it to continue to change subtlely and drastically throughout the next year. Bugs will be discovered and patched, the manufacturing process will continue to shrink, and new technologies such as copper will be integrated into the Athlon design. A little intuition hints at plans on rolling out 700-750MHz parts by the end of the year, and with hopefully we can see 1,000MHz machines by Q4 1999, thanks to Kryotech's supercooling implementation.

Regardless of clock speed, what we've seen in this preview is that the K7 Athlon is an amazing product of engineering. By scaling results, it's clear that in most cases the Athlon is a faster processor than the Pentium III, and it will easily earn its place in the annals of PC history. However, the big question is whether or not AMD is up for the challenge ahead of it.

A silver lining?

AMD continues to post losses for consecutive quarters, despite gaining more market share than ever. AMD is looking to change that with the Athlon, and is no longer going to accept the price slashing game with flagship processors. 600, 550, and 500-MHz Athlon processors will be priced at $699, $479, $324, each in 1,000-unit quantities. While it seems hefty, remember that even though it's been officially announced, you most likely will not be able to get your hands on an Athlon processor until August at the earliest.

AMD has a history of product delays and insufficient supplies, something that has plagued them throughout the entire K6 line. While we consumers probably think the least about such issues, many investors, distributors, and even partners have all but given up on AMD's ability to ship what they promise. However, as the Athlon is a whole new product based on a whole new design, AMD will be working double-time to change this tarnished facet of its image, and when asked about delivery, the oft-quoted line is "the proof will be in the pudding."

Until then, keep an eye on FiringSquad for the CPU scoop, and we plan on updating this preview shortly with dozens of new benchmarks, with more games, business applications, and scientific/graphics utilities to see exactly how the Athlon stacks up in every conceivable situation!