MOBILE DURON FAQ

Question:
Which computer manufacturers are offering notebook PCs with the new mobile AMD Duron™ processor?

Answer:
Compaq Computer Corporation is offering a notebook PC featuring the new mobile AMD Duron™ processor immediately. We anticipate other OEMs will announce products shortly.

Question:
What are the features of the new mobile AMD Duron processor?

Answer:
The new mobile AMD Duron processor is the only processor that uses advanced power management—AMD PowerNow!™ technology—in the value space. It features a 200MHz front side bus and high-performance cache architecture, including a 128KB L1 cache and 64KB exclusive L2 cache. Its superscalar floating point unit and 3DNow!™ Professional instruction set, along with enhanced data pre-fetch technology, help make this the highest level performance value notebook PC available today.

Question:
How much do mobile AMD Duron processors cost?

Answer:
Processor pricing (All pricing in 1K-unit quantities)

Mobile AMD Duron Processor
850MHz Mobile AMD Duron $197
800MHz Mobile AMD Duron $170

Question:
How much are initial Mobile AMD Duron processor-based systems expected to cost?

Answer:
Mobile AMD Duron processor-based systems are expected to be in the value notebook space, generally under$1500. OEMs will set their exact pricing based on system configuration

Question:
What is the AMD PowerNow!™ technology and what benefit does it provide the notebook user?

Answer:
AMD PowerNow! technology can significantly extend the battery life of notebook PCs by up to 30% while providing performance on demand.

AMD PowerNow! technology is a combination of software and hardware support that allows the processor to run dynamically at different frequencies and voltages. There are three basic modes of operation, including AMD’s unique “automatic” mode.

Automatic Mode – the system monitors application use and continuously varies operating frequency and voltage to deliver performance on demand while optimizing battery life.

High Performance Mode – the CPU runs at maximum frequency and voltage.

Battery Saver Mode – the CPU runs at lowest frequency and voltage to maximize system battery life.

Question:
What do you expect the battery life to be on systems based on the new mobile AMD Duron processor?

Answer:
The battery life of a notebook computer is system dependent depends on BIOS power management and other hardware such as core logic, graphics, drives, and memory, LCD panels, and most importantly, battery size and type). The mobile AMD Duron processor with AMD PowerNow! technology can significantly extend the system battery life up to 30 percent versus similar systems without this type of capability.

Question:
How does the implementation of AMD PowerNow! technology differ from the previous (K6) implementation?

Answer:
In general, the end-user experience and control panel interface is similar to the previous implementation of AMD PowerNow! technology in the mobile AMD-K6®-2+ family of processors. However, there have been significant changes to the hardware and software implementation that allow for better performance and even more responsiveness.

Question:
At what voltage does the new mobile AMD Duron processor operate?

Answer:
The mobile AMD Duron processor currently operates in 1.2 to 1.5 range (depending on AMD PowerNow! technology state).

Question:
How much power does the new mobile AMD Duron processor consume?

Answer:
The new mobile AMD Duron processor consumes as little as an average of 2 watts in battery-saver mode running typical office applications.

Question:
What level of performance does the new mobile AMD Duron processor offer?

Answer:
The mobile AMD Duron processor offers performance that is competitive or exceeds that of the mobile Pentium III processor on many benchmarks, and significantly outperforms the Celeron processor (please refer to the press presentation o the AMD Web site for details). At any system price point, AMD is committed to offering the best levels of performance.

Question:
What is the difference between the desktop and the new mobile versions of the AMD Duron processor?

Answer:
In general, the new mobile AMD Duron processor is designed to run at significantly reduced power levels and supports AMD PowerNow! technology, as well as a thermal diode that is used to monitor on-die temperature. Additionally, the mobile version runs at significantly lower operating and input/output voltage levels than their desktop counterparts. We’ll provide more information about the desktop AMD Duron processor when that product is launched later in 2001.

Question:
What is the difference between the new mobile AMD Duron processor and its predecessor? How is it enhanced?

Answer:
The new mobile AMD Duron processor is based on a different processor core. With the new core, the mobile AMD Duron processor now has AMD PowerNow! technology, hardware data pre-fetch, and 3DNow!™ Professional technology.

Question:
How is the mobile AMD Duron processor different from the mobile AMD Athlon™ 4 processor? How do their performances compare?

Answer:
The mobile AMD Duron processor is targeted at the value segment of the notebook PC market, while the mobile AMD Athlon 4 processor is targeted at the performance notebook PC market. While both AMD Duron and AMD Athlon processors share many of the same advanced, seventh-generation features (such as 200MHz front side bus and superscalar floating point units), the mobile AMD Duron processor has 64KB L2 cache and the mobile AMD Athlon 4 processor, available at higher frequencies, has 256KB L2 cache.

Question:
Is the mobile AMD Duron processor targeted for both commercial and home users?

Answer:
Yes. The new mobile AMD Duron processor is an excellent choice for value-conscious small and medium business buyers or for consumers. Notebook systems based on the new mobile AMD Duron processor offer compelling performance and value on a wide range of business productivity and basic multimedia applications.

Question:
What chipsets are available to support the mobile AMD Duron processor? Are UMA (integrated graphic) chipsets available?

Answer:
Chipset support is the same as the mobile AMD Athlon 4 processor. ALi and VIA both have chipsets available—the ALi 1647 (MagiK 1) and VIA KT 133A, which support both the AMD Duron and AMD Athlon processors. Both chipsets operate with high-performance external (2X or 4X) AGP mobile graphics controllers (from companies such as ATI, Trident, S3Via and Silicon Motion).

Question:
What BIOS will support the AMD Duron processor?

Answer:
AMD has worked with the major mobile BIOS companies (Phoenix and Insyde) to develop support for the new mobile AMD Duron processor. For a notebook system, the BIOS is typically customized for each specific system. Please contact your notebook OEM for more details about specific BIOS questions.

Question:
What front side bus will the mobile AMD Duron processor support?

Answer:
200MHz FSB

Question:
Does the mobile AMD Duron processor support Socket A?

Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Can I use my mobile AMD Duron processor in my Socket A desktop system?

Answer:
No. For mobile platforms, the system bus runs at lower voltages, and a number of additional pins are defined for mobile-specific functions (such as AMD PowerNow! technology). In general, the mobile AMD Duron processor is not supported in a desktop Socket A system.

Question:
Can I upgrade my mobile AMD-K6 processor-based system with a mobile AMD Duron processor?

Answer:
No. The system buses and pinouts are different. In general, notebook PCs cannot be upgraded, since there are many other system dependencies also required to support a specific type and frequency of CPU.

Question:
What is data pre-fetch technology?

Answer:
Data pre-fetch allows the processor to “look ahead” and fetch data from memory before it is needed by the processor. This results in fewer processor pipeline stalls, and higher overall performance on many applications.

Question:
What is 3DNow!™ Professional technology?

Answer:
Software specifically tuned for 3DNow!™ means smoother, richer and more lifelike images, more precise digital 3D audio and an enriched Web experience. 3DNow! Professional technology incorporates 52 new instructions (for a total of 107) which further extend the capability of 3DNow! technology.

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