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Chapter 3 Processor/Memory Subsystem
3.2 ATHLON XP PROCESSOR
This system features an AMD Athlon XP processor in a Socket 462-compatible package mounted
with a passive heat sink. The mounting socket allows the processor to be easily changed for
servicing and/or upgrading.
3.2.1 PROCESSOR OVERVIEW
The AMD Athlon XP processor represents the latest development of AMD processors that takes
advantage of the Windows XP operating system. The Athlon XP processor is well-suited for
demanding applications involving digital photo manipulation, video editing, audio and video
streaming over the internet, 3D modeling, and commercial desktop publishing.
Key features of the Athlon XP processor include:
♦ Superpipelined, superscalar technology – A nine-stage pipeline for increased processing
frequencies.
♦ Multple x86 instruction decoders for parallel processing
♦ Hardware data prefetch
♦ Advanced Translation Look-Aside Buffer for data and instruction addresses
♦ Large full-speed 384-KB cache – 128-KB L1 cache and 256-KB L2 cache
♦ Enhanced Floating Point Processor - Executes all x87 (math co-processor), MMX, SSE, and
3DNow! instructions.
♦ Advanced dynamic branch prediction
The Athlon XP processor is backward-compatible with software written for most x86-type
processors such as the AMD Athlon 4, AMD Duron, and Intel Pentium processors. The Athlon
XP processor supports applications using MMX, SSE, and 3DNow! instructions.
Manufactured using 0.13 micron technology, the Athlon XP processor’s uses a deeply-pipelined,
superscalar architecture that uses three x86 instruction decoders that each feed an execution
engine. Parallel execution engines provide a 3-instruction-per-clock cycle ability that is
unmatched by other x86 processors. In addition, the floating pointing unit features QuantiSpeed
architecture that uses three execution units that work in parallel to process as many as four 32-bit
floating point results per cycle.
Compaq D315 and hp d325 Personal Computers
Featuring the AMD Athlon XP Processor
Second Edition - April 2003
3-2