AMD “Sempron” To Replace Duron Chip

Advanced Micro Devices plans to develop a new line of processors that will serve the needs of the basic PC market, the company said Monday.

AMDs “Sempron” processor will be launched sometime in the second half of 2004, when the company will provide more details on the new processor. An AMD spokeswoman declined to disclose whether the Sempron would be based on an entirely new architecture, or would simply be a rebranding of an existing product. However, she said that the Sempron will replace the existing 32-bit Duron processor in emerging markets.

AMDs Sempron may end up being a Duron for the new millennium, serving what AMD officials called “value-conscious needs”. “We see an evolving market,” AMD spokeswoman Jo Albers said in an interview. “The day-to-day needs of home and PC users in basic computing once involved web browsing, email, and word processing. Now were seeing users download music and send it to their friends, along with (functions like) DVD playback.”

AMD still ships the 32-bit Duron overseas to emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. AMD engineers stripped down the level-2 cache inside the Athlon XP to create the Duron.

The Athlon XP will still be sold, Albers said, meaning that AMD will now offer a 32-bit Athlon XP, the Sempron, the Athlon 64, and the Opteron processor for servers. Both mobile and desktop versions of the Sempron will be shipped to customers, she added.

“Semper”, Latin for “always”, is more commonly used in the phrase “Semper fidelis”, or “semper fi”, a slogan used by the United States Marine Corps meaning “always faithful”.