AMD's K8 to be re-engineered K7
Original plans put on hold as various K8 engineers drift away
Posted in Business, 12th September 1999 09:57 GMT
Tune into our application security webcast, click here
Sources close to AMD's plans say the company has shifted its plans on its future, 64-bit K8 processor. The original K8 64-bit design is now on ice, and the firm has decided instead to derive the design of the future processor from its Athlon K7, but extended to 64-bit mode. That is not a retrograde step, according to one source. The K7 design worked out well and a K8 based on that can re-use x.86 compilers, thus bringing a product to market quicker than expected or usually feasible. But there is a potential skill shortages to overcome -- a number of K8 engineers at AMD have been wooed away from the firm to work at various Silicon Valley startups, our sources say. We will contact AMD during the coming working week in an effort to obtain more information. ®
See what The Register's experts have to say on application security


The future of SaaS and IT infrastructure management
Solving on-premise email challenges with on-demand services
The business case for application security
Reducing messaging and web security costs with managed services

Win a Samsung C6625!
Is your cameraphone an oxymoron?
Reg Mobile and Wireless newsletter is go! go! go!
Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter