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K6 - AMD
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AMD K6
amd k6 logo.svg
Marketing Logo
Developer NexGen, AMD
Manufacturer AMD
Type Microprocessors
Introduction April 2, 1997 (launch)
Production 1997
Architecture Pentium II-compatible superscalar microprocessors with MMX
ISA IA-32
µarch K6
Word size 32 bit
4 octets
8 nibbles
Process 350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
, 250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
Technology CMOS
Clock 166 MHz-300 MHz
Package CPGA-321
Socket Socket 7
Succession
K5 K6-2

K6 was a family of 32-bit x86 microprocessors designed by AMD and introduced in early 1997 as a successor to their K5 line. Contrary to its namesake, K6 design is entirely NexGen's and not based on K5 (See § Overview). K6 lower cost along with superior performance (comparable or better than Pentium II's clock-for-clock) made these processors a viable alternative to Intel's. K6 gained wide acceptance in the PC market.

Overview

In October of 1995, when AMD was suffering a number of setbacks in their K5 design (so much so that AMD's profitability depended on Am5x86), a small fabless company by the name of NexGen was making headway by announcing their 6th generation x86, Nx686, at the 8th Annual Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California. The Nx686 was a very advanced microprocessor based on their previous RISC86 microarchitecture which was a RISC core that translated CISC instructions into smaller µops. The chip managed to comfortably take on Pentium, being a superscalar with speculative out-of-order execution and supporting MMX.

Following AMD's late arrival of K5 and additional delays after release due to subpar performance with the first design (SSA/5), AMD was already well into designing their next generation of chips. AMD couldn't afford the same sort of problems with K6 as they did with K5. In 1995 AMD was in bad shape as far as the K5 and K6 designs go; at the same time NexGen had a great product and engineering team but no real outlet to manufacture and sell it (at least not one that could compete with Intel's). On October 21, 1995 AMD announced that they will be buying NexGen for about $857 million in stock.

Following the acquisition of NexGen, AMD simply scrapped their own K6 design and renamed Nx686 K6 instead. The design underwent a number of small modifications: the chip was modified to be bus and pin-compatible with Intel's Pentium, making it a drop-in replacement/alternative to any Intel's Socket 7 motherboard.

Launched in April 1997, the final result was AMD's K6 - an entirely NexGen's designed microarchitecture, bus-compatible, pin-compatible, and software-compatible with Intel's Pentium including superior FPU and MMX support. Selling well under Pentium prices allowed K6 processors to gain widespread acceptance.

Early K6 processors were given PR2 ratings (Pentium II-based performance rating), however the rating system was dropped just a few months later because the chips were performing as well or better than Pentium II processors at the same frequency.

Architecture

Main article: K6 Microarchitecture
CPGA-321
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Developers

  • Greg Favor, Chief Architect, NexGen

Die Shot

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Members

Originally released for Desktops only, after a process shrink AMD released a number of mobile processors as well.

Desktop Models

,,,,,,,,,,,
Desktop K6 Processors
ModelLaunchedProcessFreqMult.BusMax MemVCOREPackageMin TcaseMax Tcase
AMD-K6-166ALRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
166.66 MHz
0.167 GHz
166,660 kHz
2.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-166ALYDMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
166.66 MHz
0.167 GHz
166,660 kHz
2.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-200AFRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
199.99 MHz
0.2 GHz
199,990 kHz
366.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-200ALRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
199.99 MHz
0.2 GHz
199,990 kHz
366.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-200ALYDMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
199.99 MHz
0.2 GHz
199,990 kHz
366.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-233AFRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-233ANRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6-233APRMay 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6/266AFR5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
266.66 MHz
0.267 GHz
266,660 kHz
466.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.2 V
22 dV
220 cV
2,200 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6/300AFR5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
299.99 MHz
0.3 GHz
299,990 kHz
4.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.2 V
22 dV
220 cV
2,200 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6/PR2-166ALR2 April 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
166.66 MHz
0.167 GHz
166,660 kHz
2.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
AMD-K6/PR2-200ALR2 April 1997350 nm
0.35 μm
3.5e-4 mm
199.99 MHz
0.2 GHz
199,990 kHz
366.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.9 V
29 dV
290 cV
2,900 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
70 °C
343.15 K
158 °F
617.67 °R
Count: 12

Mobile Models

,,,,,,,
Mobile K6 Processors
ModelLaunchedProcessFreqMult.BusMax MemVCOREPackageMin TcaseMax Tcase
AMD-K6/233ACZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2 V
20 dV
200 cV
2,000 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/233ADZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.1 V
21 dV
210 cV
2,100 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/233BCZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
233.33 MHz
0.233 GHz
233,330 kHz
3.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2 V
20 dV
200 cV
2,000 mV
CBGA-3600 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/266ACZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
266.66 MHz
0.267 GHz
266,660 kHz
466.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.1 V
21 dV
210 cV
2,100 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/266ADZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
266.66 MHz
0.267 GHz
266,660 kHz
466.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.1 V
21 dV
210 cV
2,100 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/266BCZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
266.66 MHz
0.267 GHz
266,660 kHz
466.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2 V
20 dV
200 cV
2,000 mV
CBGA-3600 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/300ADZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
299.99 MHz
0.3 GHz
299,990 kHz
4.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.1 V
21 dV
210 cV
2,100 mV
0 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
AMD-K6/300BDZ5 March 1998250 nm
0.25 μm
2.5e-4 mm
299.99 MHz
0.3 GHz
299,990 kHz
4.566.66 MHz
0.0667 GHz
66,660 kHz
4,096 MiB
4,194,304 KiB
4,294,967,296 B
4 GiB
0.00391 TiB
2.1 V
21 dV
210 cV
2,100 mV
CBGA-3600 °C
273.15 K
32 °F
491.67 °R
85 °C
358.15 K
185 °F
644.67 °R
Count: 8

Documents

DataSheet

Software

Other

See also

Facts about "K6 - AMD"
designerNexGen + and AMD +
first launchedApril 2, 1997 +
full page nameamd/k6 +
instance ofmicroprocessor family +
instruction set architectureIA-32 +
main designerNexGen +
manufacturerAMD +
microarchitectureK6 +
nameAMD K6 +
packageCPGA-321 +
process350 nm (0.35 μm, 3.5e-4 mm) + and 250 nm (0.25 μm, 2.5e-4 mm) +
socketSocket 7 +
technologyCMOS +
word size32 bit (4 octets, 8 nibbles) +