1. 64 Bit Power In A Notebook: Mobile Athlon64 3000+

After many delays, the first two 64 bit processors for the PC mass market - the Athlon64 FX-51 and Athlon64 3200+ - finally saw the light of day at the end of September.

After AMD's Athlon64 desktop debut in September, notebook system builders have begun to implement the mobile variant of the Athlon64, the Mobile Athlon64 3000+.

The Mobile Athlon64, like the desktop model, is based on an x86 architecture with a 64 bit extension. The Mobile Athlon64 thus has the advantage of supporting conventional 32 bit operating systems and applications as well as future 64 bit operating systems/applications .

And, it is so far the only mobile CPU for notebooks with an integrated memory controller to connect the RAM directly to the processor. Depending on the application, this architecture promises clear performance gains since it takes less time to reload information than a traditional design with external memory controller.

THG secured one of the first mass-produced devices to feature a Mobile Athlon64, the Q8M Power64 XD from Yakumo, for an extensive test in its lab.