Athlon

Original Athlon logo used in 1999
Logo used since 2018 for Zen-based Athlon processors

Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of x86-compatible microprocessors designed and manufactured by AMD. The original Athlon (now called Athlon Classic) was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and the first desktop processor to reach speeds of one gigahertz (GHz). It made its debut as AMD's high-end processor brand on June 23, 1999.[1] Over the years AMD has used the Athlon name with the 64-bit Athlon 64 architecture, the Athlon II, and Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) chips targeting the Socket AM1 desktop SoC architecture, and Socket AM4 Zen (microarchitecture).[2] The modern Zen-based Athlon with a Radeon Graphics processor was introduced in 2019 as AMD's highest-performance entry-level processor.[3][4]

Athlon comes from the Ancient Greek ἆθλον (athlon), meaning "(sport) contest", or "prize of a contest", or "place of a contest; arena".[5] With the Athlon name originally used for AMD's high-end processors, AMD currently uses Athlon for budget APUs[2] with integrated graphics.[6] AMD positions the Athlon against its rival, the Intel Pentium.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference A was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cutress, Ian. "AMD Announces New $55 Low-Power Processor: Athlon 200GE". AnandTech. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  3. ^ Lucian Armasu (November 19, 2019). "AMD's Unlocked Athlon 3000G APU Starts Shipping at $49". Tom's Hardware.
  4. ^ Hilbert Hagedoorn (December 3, 2019). "AMD Athlon 3000G review". Guru3D.
  5. ^ ἆθλον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  6. ^ "Two New 35W Raven Ridge Parts: AMD Athlon 200GE and Athlon Pro 200GE". Anandtech. May 26, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tom's Hardware and Carbotte: 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).