AMD plans 64-bit Athlon successor

AMD will replace its Athlon processor with a new chip based on its 64-bit server chip, code-named Sledgehammer, that will run at 2GHz and above, company officials said.

Unlike rival Intel, which has developed an entirely new 64-bit processor architecture and instruction set under the brand name Itanium, AMD officials said adding new 64-bit instructions to the current version of its Athlon X86 instruction set will provide 64-bit support without compromising the performance of 32-bit applications.

AMD also announced plans to offer a mobile Duron chip along with a mobile Athlon, both based on a mobile version of its Mustang core, code-named Corvette.

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