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• After Intel had its Pentium MMX on the market, AMD with followed with its K6, which worked with up to 166 MHz and also offered MMX. For the first time, SDRAM memory was supported, bringing about a quantum leap in memory transfer. There were modules with 60 ns (EDO) or 70 ns (Fast Page). Memory transfer rates of up to 90 MB per second were reached, and the maximum memory expansion was now 384 MB, later 768 MB. Almost at the same moment, the ATX form factor was introduced. Moreover, a new power supply specification allowed the computer to enter a standby mode or to be switched on and off using software. The introduction of the AGP interface brought more speed compared to the standard PCI. At that time, when memory was still very expensive and slow, it occurred to Intel that graphics cards could get direct access to RAM. Intel ended the Socket 7 era with the Pentium 233 MMX, which had a maximum heat loss of 17 watts. The manufacturer had been planning the Pentium 266 MMX, and then used it only as a mobile variation. Unlike Intel, which by this time was relying on Slot 1, AMD used Socket 7 for another two years. The last Socket 7 processor was the AMD K6-III 500 or the AMD K6-2+ 550. In performance, the AMD K6-III 500 beat many a Pentium III (!). The reason? The CPU has an 256 kB integrated L2 cache - when it interacted with a 2 MB L3 cache on the motherboard, this CPU was the absolute killer in performance. At this time Intel had nothing to rival it, especially since the AMD CPU (K6-III 450) could be had considerably cheaper. Curious and decadent: Pentium 100 with 512 MB RAM - it simply goes with it Many an application taken for granted today can no longer run without MMX. The flip side of the coin: after the 500 MHz version of the K6-III was introduced, AMD recalled the processor immediately - even THG returned the rare design. And another unusual feature: Only OEM manufacturers received the K6-2+ manufactured in 180 nm. It was also available in retail stores, but did not run on all motherboards. >From time to time, this CPU was also used in notebooks. At this point, Intel and AMD parted ways. Intel moved to Slot 1 and AMD settled on the similar-looking but incompatible Slot A.

• IDF 2000: Intel Pentium 4 (Willamette)

  Andy Grove, Albert Yu and Pat Gelsinger. Shortly before arrival on your flight to Palm Springs, California, one has the uneasy feeling that Intel has transported you into the desert. It's only when you've actually touched down that you realize what Palm Springs really is. The town, located on an oasis and originally Cahuilla Indian territory, is surrounded by 3,000 meter high mountains - some of which even have ski resorts. This was the last time that Palm Springs was the scene of the Intel developer Forum (IDF) which will move back to the Silicon Valley homelands (to be more precise: San Jose) in the future. The event began with the keynote of ex-CEO Andy Grove who has obviously still not fully recovered from his long bout of illness. After a long speech concerning the re-orientation of the company in the direction of the Internet and networking (financial analysts love this patter because it's still in fashion), good old Andy reverted to the 'original' core business: processors. And then things speeded up dramatically. Together with Dr. Albert Yu, he presented not only a 1 GHz Pentium III, but Yu also went to demonstrate a Willamette processor apparently running at 1.5 GHz on a separate machine. Let's take a look at the facts. The gigahertz Pentium III was compared with its 533 MHz predecessor using a benchmark. A secondary tool invoked a calculation-intensive process, namely the conversion of a video into MPEG-2 format. And then came the big 'aha!' effect: the gigahertz processor was about twice as fast as the 533 MHz processor. At least this presentation had one convincing argument in its favor: the comparison was made with the help of the well-established application Ligos LSX. In their chase for impressive headlines, Intel didn't take a backseat. In their first presentation of the Willamette processor (alias Pentium IV), Intel apparently preferred to flex its muscles rather than convince Tom's Hardware. The air-cooled Willamette chip, hidden from the eyes of the public in its sealed PC case was apparently clocked at 1.5 GHz. At least that's what the Intel Frequency ID utility displayed. Note that the utility is a proprietary product of Intel and not a frequency checker that we use and respect as such. Albert Yu, who admitted that the test object was 'first silicon', started a 3D graphics demo and whispers flew through the rows of reporters and analysts who were less familiar with the technical possibilities. At least Intel was successful in one respect: they out-maneuvered AMD again. The Willamette (Pentium IV) Named after a river in Oregon, Intel presents the Willamette, successor to the Pentium III. It fits in the new 423 socket. Source: Thanks to Daniel "Mr. Big Guy" Wolff of Chip Magazine who pushed CNN and ZDTV crews away and who shoot this picture before being lynched. 'Back to the sockets' is Intel's strategy to produce low-cost high-frequency processors such as the Willamette Pentium IV. Let's think back to Spring 1997. AMD's K6 and Intel's Pentium MMX processors used the same chipsets and sockets. With the appearance of the Pentium II Klamath, Intel deemed it necessary to move away from sockets and into Slot 1 technology. Since then, all the ensuing CPU's of both manufacturers have required their own chipsets and connectors. Intel's objective to escape from the common platform had been reached. Sunlin Chou, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group, sees the future of new desktop processors in sockets again. The Pentium III (Coppermine), Pentium IV (Willamette) and Timna are to be implemented as socketed FC-PGA versions. Two important differences exist. The base material of the packaging of the silicon chip is no longer ceramic, instead it is an organic substrate. This improves the dielectrical and thermal properties. In addition, flip-chip technology will be used rather than wire bonding.

• By: Chris Angelini It’s so much easier to be productive without fans whirring, LED lights flashing, and three graphics cards competing with your air conditioning for climate control. In our opinion, the perfect back-to-school desktop is small, fast, and affordable — so that’s what we set out to build. Chassis: In Win BK623 While it isn’t as small as one of Shuttle’s XPCs, the In Win BK623 chassis is certainly diminutive and quiet. In fact, the mini-tower was designed in conjunction with Intel to support Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors without the need for a case fan. The all-black exterior is average looking; there are cut-outs for a single 5.25” optical drive and a 3.5” floppy. The front panel also boasts four USB 2.0 ports and audio I/O connectors. Each side of the chassis is painted black as well, with the right side ventilated to maximize the effectiveness of your processor fan. Flip the box around and you’ll find a 300 W power supply pre-installed. The BK623 takes microATX motherboards with as many as four full-height expansion cards. This chassis might be a bit larger than your typical small form factor cube, but it enables a lot more in the way of scalability, too. Motherboard: Gigabyte MA78GM-S2H Remember, this is about work, not play (that’ll come later). We wanted to build a workstation-class machine that would not only handle business, but also enable some basic entertainment functionality after-hours at a reasonable price. Gigabyte’s MA78GM-S2H motherboard, based on AMD’s 780G chipset, does all of those things and fits nicely into our In Win chassis. The microATX board sports a Socket AM2+ interface, so it goes well with any of AMD’s 95 W Phenom CPUs. Its four DDR2 memory slots take up to 16 GB of RAM, and an integrated Radeon HD 3200-series graphics core serves up reasonable DirectX 10 performance. More important, however, is that the chip boasts AMD’s Unified Video Decoder for hardware help decoding Blu-ray movies. Dual display outputs let you run a pair of LCDs side by side. We’re fans of multi-monitor setups — another great back-to-school idea — and supporting four displays between the onboard outputs and a single add-in board is exactly what we need from a workhorse. Additionally, Gigabyte arms its MA78GM-S2H with lots of integration. The list is long and distinguished: HD Audio, plenty of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, five SATA ports, one eSATA port, DVI, VGA, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet and PCI Express 2.0. When you consider that the motherboard sells for about $90, that’s really quite a value. Processor: AMD Phenom X4 9550 In keeping with our low-priced, high-performance theme, we chose AMD’s Phenom X4 9550 quad-core processor to power our little deuce coupe. Of course, the 2.2 GHz chip isn’t the fastest in the family, but its lower operating speed actually works to our advantage. Even while In Win’s chassis is set up for an Intel-based platform, the Gigabyte 780G board and 95 W AMD CPU drop right in and run almost silently. Surely the 125 W or 140 W Phenoms would be more thermally-challenged in such cramped quarters. AMD’s “Agena” architecture delivers a quartet of 512 kB L2 caches and a unified 2 MB L3 repository. It’s able to take full advantage of the 780G chipset’s HyperTransport 3.0 link, too. You can currently find the retail boxed 9550 priced at around $175 online. However, we’ve noticed that a number of enthusiasts are unhappy with the aluminum fan bundled with the retail kit, so you might want to think about a tray processor and aftermarket cooler. We used an Ajigo MF091-096 with a ball bearing fan without any clearance issues — the system ran smoothly and stayed whisper-quiet.