AMD K7 yields to no-one, especially not Intel

A couple of years ago, The Register was down Satan Clara way and bumped into the P7 engineers in a bar. They got tipsy and tipped us the wink on future Intel marchitectures. Now, it appears, AMD engineers enjoy a tipple or two, too. A source who got drinking in an Austin bar with some AMD engineers a few weeks ago gleaned some good info on K7 yields and process technology. He says the K7 will now be built on a .18 micron process, not .25 micron as previously thought. This matches Intel's intention to produce a 600MHz PIII using Coppermine .18 technology. Key parts of the K7 are etched at .12 micron and samples are already running at 1GHz in AMD labs. And AMD has ordered machinery for Dresden that will work at .10 micron. Further, production yields on the K7 are around 50 to 55 per cent, better than planned for this stage. ®