TECHNOLOGY - March 28, 1996

AMD Unveils Rival for Pentium Chip: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. introduced a microprocessor to compete against Intel Corp.’s Pentium. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD said its AMD5K86 chip, called K5 for short, is now being shipped. The processor is compatible with all of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system software and other programs that run on x86 class chips. The first AMD chips, which are plug-in replacements for Pentiums, will operate at speeds of 75 and 90 megahertz. AMD, which for years has made legal copies of Intel’s 386 and 486 microprocessors, ran into problems designing its own processor after Intel stopped licensing its designs for the Pentium. As a result, AMD bought chip maker NexGen Inc. for about $860 million late last year to gain access to NexGen’s chip designs.