AMD K8

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K8 - Hammer
General information
Launchedlate 2003
DiscontinuedApril 2014
Common manufacturer(s)
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate1600 MHz to 3200 MHz
FSB speeds800 MHz to 1000 MHz
Architecture and classification
Technology node130 nm to 65 nm
Instruction setAMD64 (x86-64)
Physical specifications
Socket(s)
Products, models, variants
Core name(s)
History
Predecessor(s)K7 - Athlon
Successor(s)Family 10h (K10)

The AMD K8 Hammer, also code-named SledgeHammer, is a computer processor microarchitecture designed by AMD as the successor to the AMD K7 Athlon microarchitecture. The K8 was the first implementation of the AMD64 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set architecture.[1][2]

Features[edit]

Processors[edit]

Processors based on the K8 core include:

The K8 core is very similar to the K7. The most radical change is the integration of the AMD64 instructions and an on-chip memory controller. The memory controller drastically reduces memory latency and is largely responsible for most of the performance gains from K7 to K8.

Nomenclature[edit]

It is perceived by the PC community that after the use of the codename K8 for the Athlon 64 processor family, AMD no longer uses K-nomenclatures (which originally stood for Kryptonite[3]) since no K-nomenclature naming convention beyond K8 has appeared in official AMD documents and press releases after the beginning of 2005. AMD now refers to the codename K8 processors as the Family 0Fh processors. 10h and 0Fh refer to the main result of the CPUID x86 processor instruction. In hexadecimal numbering, 0F(h) (where the h represents hexadecimal numbering) equals the decimal number 15, and 10(h) equals the decimal number 16. (The "K10h" form that sometimes pops up is an improper hybrid of the "K" code and Family identifier number.)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "List of AMD CPU microarchitectures - LeonStudio". LeonStudio - CodeFun. 3 August 2014. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  2. ^ Hans de Vries (2 October 2001). "AMD's Next Generation Micro Processor's Architecture". Chip Architect. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  3. ^ Hesseldahl, Arik (2000-07-06). "Why Cool Chip Code Names Die". forbes.com. Retrieved 2007-07-14.