AMD’s K6-III ‘Sharptooth’ debuted this week in 1999 with on-die L2 cache to savage the Intel Pentium II — it also held the line against the Pentium III

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AMD’s K6-III ‘Sharptooth’ debuted this week in 1999 with on-die L2 cache to savage the Intel Pentium II — it also held the line against the Pentium III

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AMD launched its first processors with on-die L2 cache this week in 1999, heralding the beginning of the Super Socket 7 era. With its new K6-III CPUs , AMD presented a major architectural leap above the popular K6-2 line, and knocked the Intel Pentium II 450 off its fastest processor perch. Intel would quickly follow up with its first Pentium III Katmai CPUs, but the K6-III could still outclass its pricier foe in cache latency-sensitive apps.

Intel abandoned Socket 7 in 1997, with the Pentium II series moving to the rather unusual Slot 1 motherboard interface. However, AMD persevered with Socket 7 , pleasing PC builders and upgraders for several more years. The K6-III was an important move for AMD in keeping Socket 7 alive.

The new AMD K6-III with on-die cache launched in 400 and 450 MHz SKUs on Feb 22, 1999. AMD positioned it as a pre-prepared answer to Intel’s upcoming Pentium III (Feb 26 launch). Reviews and comparisons from the time show that AMD’s gambit largely paid off – maintaining the red team’s price-performance competitive edge until the K7 Athlon series tech could trickle down to the mainstream.

AMD's dual-cache Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 appears in first benchmark leaks

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