This chip will most likely be the volume member of the Athlon family during late summer and autumn of 1999. This chip offers users performance levels comparable to the Intel Pentium III 600 in all areas, and could well even be slightly faster in Floating Point instructions. This of course is very good for the PC buyer as the well rounded performance of the Athlon gives a credible choice to the market dominated by the Pentium III line.

Unlike the 500 MHz part, the Athlon 550 will be considerably more expensive, weighing in with a price tag of around $450-$500 (UK buyers can read this as around the £450-£500 mark). This is evidence that AMD are definitely gunning for the premium PC market that is normally the domain of Intel’s finest. It’s price tag though will be lower than the Pentium III 550, which AMD hope to maintain in order to win sales away from Intel.

When compared to the Pentium III 550, the Athlon 550 wins convincingly with its superior performance for a marginal cost saving (that doesn’t include the high cost of Athlon motherboards). If you can get an Athlon 550 in place of a Pentium III 550, go for the Athlon. Supply has

Athlon 500.

Athlon 600.