Custom PC - UK (2020-06)

However, the most significant feature when it came to
pushing OS and software development towards today’s
64-bit standard was ‘long mode’, in which the Athlon 64 ran
64-bit applications natively, with the ability to conveniently
run standard x86 software from a 64-bit OS.
This meant users could take advantage of the more
sophisticated memory handling of 64-bit software, while
still running their core 32-bit applications, eliminating a key
hurdle to widespread 64-bit adoption. Dedicated 64-bit
operating systems had existed for years, and support for
AMD64 CPUs rapidly emerged. Linux had a head start, with
x86-64 instructions already functional under emulation
since 2001, and distributions including SUSE, Debian and
Red Hat adding AMD64 support over 2004 and 2005.
Microsoft was a little slower off the mark. Despite
having already developed a 64-bit version of Windows
XP for the Intel Itanium (IA-64) processor in 2001, full
AMD64 support only came to Windows in March 2005,

withtheofficialreleaseofWindowsXPProfessionalx64

EditionandWindowsServer 2003 x64Edition.

DespitethelackofOSandsoftwaresupportatthetime,system

buildersimmediatelystartedputtingtheAthlon 64 towork,and

somereviewersreceived‘pre-beta’editionsofa 64-bitWindows

XPattheprocessors’September 2003 launch.Meanwhile,games

suchasUnrealTournament 2004 andFarCrywerereleasedor

patched to provide AMD64 support.

In nearly all our benchmark tests at the time, the first Athlon 64

processors routinely outperformed Intel’s rival 32-bit Pentium

4 everywhere, from business applications to photo editing, 3D

rendering and gaming, although the Pentium 4 tended to do a

little better in some media encoding tasks.

Evolving the Athlon 64

By mid-2004, Socket 754 was replaced on desktop motherboards

by Socket 939, which supported dual-channel DDR memory at

a bandwidth of 6.4GB/sec and, unlike Socket 940, didn’t require

registered memory. All future iterations of the Athlon 64 would use

this socket until AM2’s release two years later.

AMD’s first dual-core processor family, the Athlon 64 X2,

was then released in May 2005, just as x86-64 software

support started to get proper traction. Once again, it put in a

solid performance in our reviews. The initial X2 models were

codenamed Toledo – available with either 512KB or 1MB of L2 cache

per core, depending on which model you chose – and Manchester,

which cost less and was available in models with either 256KB

or 512KB of L2 cache per core. However, it wasn’t until a move to

Socket AM2 in May 2006, with the Windsor and Orleans CPUs, that

the Athlon 64 X2 started supporting DDR2 RAM.

These dual-core CPUs were initially positioned as ideal for video

editing, digital media and other ‘prosumer’ areas where applications

were already capable of taking advantage of multiple cores. Single-

core FX processors continued to be AMD’s flagship gaming CPUs

until the FX-60 came out in January 2006.

AMD64TIMELINE

2000

· AMDreleasesAMD64spec

2001

· LinuxgetsgainsAMD64support

2003

· AMDreleasesK8Opteron

· Socket 754 Athlon 64 andSocket

940 Athlon 64 FXreleased

2004

· Socket 939 introduced

2005

· MicrosoftlaunchesWindowsXP

with AMD64support

· Dual-coreAthlon 64 X2released

2006

· Athlon 64 X2movestoSocket

AM2andgainsDDR2

memorysupport

2007

· AMDrenamesAthlon64X2

theAthlonX2

· AMDreleasesfirstOpteron

K10serverprocessors

· FirstK10-basedPhenom

desktopprocessorreleased

2009

· Lastprocessorsbasedonthe

K8microarchitecturereleasedas

a partofAMD’sAthlonNeoX2for

UltrathinNotebooksrange

The original Athlon 64 3200+ used Socket 754. Credit: Thomas Nguyen

Left: Die of

the Socket

939 Athlon 64

‘Venice’ 3400+,

released in

2005. Credit:
      Fritzchens Fritz