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AMD names Athlon follow up Barton after judge

So now we're looking for the one called 'Phelps'

AMD has confirmed our suspicions that the successor to the Athlon, Barton, will ship in the second half of next year. According to EBN, Barton has been knocked back six months alongside Claw Hammer, in order for both to be produced in 0.13 micron with SOI (Silicon On Insulator) technology.

But the hell with that, for the moment - what kind of a name for a product is that? we thought. With Athlon, AMD has barely scratched the surface of codenames based on Highland regiments. What about Seaforth, Gordon, Black Watch (well, maybe not)?

Then we remembered. February 2nd, 1992, Judge J. Barton Phelps signs off his adjudication of the five year AMD versus Intel case. Briefly, he gave AMD rights to the 386 in a bid to end the companies' titanic battle, and the adjudication made it clear he though, first, AMD were a bunch of chimps, and second, that Intel's Andy Grove and Dave House (in particular) were a couple of snakes.

Here's a brief party tape of some of his bon mots. In the interests of fair play, we've only selected the ones about Intel:

"...the Arbitrator might as well order Intel to throw a dead cat on the doorstep of AMD as to order Intel to deliver the 8087 manufacturing package... since this proceeding has been a factually complex, multi-issued heavily litigated affair with feelings rising to or above gang warfare or mid-Eastern levels... AMD's sponsorship helped propel Intel from the chorus line of semiconductor companies into instant stardom... it demands a much looser concept of corporate perfidy than exists in the business community generally to excuse the deception... an indefensible and obvious breach of contract..."

In among this he republished collections of superbly self-damning emails from the paranoid pair. Clearly, somebody at Chimpzilla Codenaming Central has a sense of history. Also clearly, we have to find out what Phelps is the codename for.

Barton the chip will be produced at AMD's Dresden fab. Barton the original is, we believe, retired.

Related stories:
EBN: AMD plans successor to Athlon
AMD 64 bit Hammer delayed

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