Beginning with the .25-micron K7 core, we have seen AMD's Athlon evolve slowly to the .18-mircon K75, and most recently to the 256KB on-die L2 cache-equipped Thunderbird. While we would have liked to see the Thunderbird core hit the scene a little earlier, AMD has done a good job at spacing out launches to keep neck in neck in terms of performance and far more competitive in terms of price with Intel's Pentium III. AMD is currently shipping at speeds of up to 1.2GHz in variations supporting both 200 and 266MHz front side bus. Since the next major product advancement is scheduled for Q2 2001, what should we expect between now and the middle of next year?

We have been told that AMD will continue releasing Athlon processors based on the Thunderbird core right up to 1.5GHz. These CPU's will appear in 200 and 266MHz bus speeds as AMD sees continued demand for KT133 systems. Apparently, it will take OEM's a while to adopt either AMD 760-based systems or KT133A-based systems, which both operate at 266MHz front side bus.

It is widely known that the Athlon can reach finger-searing temperatures and while the move to a .18-micron process helped decrease the stringent power supply demands experienced with the K7 core, those demands are on the rise with the latest wave of GHz+ processors. Current 1.2GHz processors draw roughly 50W of power - nearly as much as Intel's Pentium 4. Unlike the Pentium 4, however, the Athlon does not utilize a dedicated power connector or a 400-gram heatsink. 1.3 and 1.4GHz Athlon processors will likely strain weaker power supplies, but AMD has expressed confidence in the decision to cut the Thunderbird line at 1.5GHz. They have obviously been doing their homework and know something about the Athlon's heat output that we do not. What is in store for the Athlon when the Thunderbird core hits 1.5GHz? We say goodbye Thunderbird and hello Palomino.