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technology19h ago
AMD’s K6-III ‘Sharptooth’ debuted this week in 1999 with on-die L2 cache to savage the Intel Pentium II — it also held the line against the Pentium III
- AMD released the K6-III with on-die L2 cache in 1999, marking a major architectural leap for the company.
- The K6-III introduced 256KB L2 cache on-die and launched at 400 and 450 MHz in February 1999.
- AMD positioned the K6-III as a counter to Intel’s Pentium III and as a price‑performance leader.
- The Sharptooth project helped keep Socket 7 alive during a transition to newer interfaces.
- AMD anticipated Intel’s Pentium III with a pre‑emptive launch dated two days before Intel’s release.
- AMD continued to offer K6‑III chips through 2003, extending their presence in the market.
- The article places the K6‑III in the broader Super Socket 7 era context and its legacy.
- The article notes the K6‑III’s role in keeping Socket 7 viable until newer Athlon hardware emerged.
- Retro enthusiasts today prize early Socket 7 boards for broad CPU compatibility and classic GPUs.
- The piece mentions the broader CPU landscape, including upcoming Zen 6 and Nova Lake rumors.
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