AMD K6-2 - The Processor Emporium (UK) (Page 2 of 2)

The AMD K6-2 processor: Image courtesy of AMD Corporation

K6-2 the Pros & Cons

The AMD K6-2 is a very good processor indeed with many strenghts and just a couple of weaknesses. Compared to the Intel Pentium II the K6-2 offers performance equal to if not better than at speeds of 300 & 333 MHz. The 100 MHz front side bus here is a major factor for the K6-2 and allowed its superb integer performance to shine. The K6-2 only falls behind the Pentium II in respect to its floating point performance. This though is overcome in games such as Quake II where a patch can be obtained to utilise the "3D Now!" instruction set.

The K6-2 though lost out to the Pentium II and Celeron processors as its speed rose towards the 400 Mhz mark. This was simply linked to the fact that its performance was directly linked to its bus speed and hence its level 2 cache speed which was stuck at 100 MHz. This contrasted to its Intel rivals which saw their level 2 cache speeds rising with their clock speeds. This problem for the K6-2 has only now been fixed by the inclusion of 256 Kb of integrated level 2 cache onto the new K6 III chip.

This pressure though has not defeated the AMD K6-2, as its speed has risen to 450 MHz, and in April 1999 up to 475 MHz (5x on a 95 MHz bus) , it seems that the Intel Celeron certainly won't have it all its own way against the little AMD chip. Will the rise to a multiplier of 5x herald the advent of a 500 MHz K6-2, we certainly hope so!

The one area where the K6-2 can show an advantage over its Intel rivals is its price. The AMD K6-2 has always been priced by AMD to be cheaper than its Intel rivals, although it has come under considerable pressure from the Celeron recently. That aside the K6-2 is astoundingly good value for money (something the Processor Emporium rates VERY highly) offering near cutting edge power for a fratction of cutting edge price. The K6-2 is also available in a great many systems for the home market and offers the home user an exceptionally good value package for the cost.

K6-2 the verdict

The Processor Emporium (UK) thinks very highly of the AMD K6-2 indeed. It offers the home user great value for money by virtue of the processing power and features (ie. 3D Now!) it brings to the budget user. Only recently has this chip lost its shine as it has been eclipsed by Intel's superb Celeron A and AMD's new K6 III.

That said, this chip can be recommended highly for any budget system, especially with the recent launch of the 450 & 475 variants of this chip, although the buyer may want to think twice if there was a similarly priced Celeron 433 or K6 III system nearby.

AMD K6-2® Processor, Technical Data

Processor	Clock Speed	Bus Speed	Clock Muiltiplier
K6-2 266	266 MHz	66 MHz	4x
K6-2 300	300 MHz	100 MHz	3x
K6-2 333	333 MHz	95 MHz	3.5x
K6-2 350	350 MHz	100 MHz	3.5x
K6-2 366	366 MHz	66 MHz	5.5x
K6-2 380	380 MHz	95 MHz	4x
K6-2 400	400 MHz	100 MHz	4x
K6-2 450	450 MHz	100 MHz	4.5x
K6-2 475	475 MHz	95 MHz	5x
K6-2 500	500 MHz	100 MHz	5x
K6-2 533	533 MHz	97 MHz	5.5x
K6-2 550	550 MHz	100 MHz	5.5x

* Please note that there is a problem when running the K6-2® at speeds over 350 MHz under Windows 95® OSR2, 2.1 & 2.5. This is due to the sheer speed of the processor causing a timing fault during startup, thus resulting in Windows 95® locking up. A patch to cure this problem can be downloaded from AMD.

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