ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997                TAG: 9704030027
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: SUNNYVALE, CALIF. 

AMD CHIP GIVES INTEL A CHALLENGE FASTER AND CHEAPER, IT'S CALLED `IMPRESSIVE'

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., eager to challenge the industry leader, introduced a new computer chip Wednesday that's faster and cheaper than Intel Corp.'s top microprocessors.

AMD, which for years has trailed Intel, hopes to win a sizable piece of the personal computer market with its K6 processor - and provide an alternative to the Intel ``monopolith.''

Jerry Sanders, AMD chairman, said the K6 chips would cost at least 25 percent less than comparable processors from Intel. The first K6 chips, available Wednesday, are 31 percent to 35 percent less expensive than similar Intel chips.

In a demonstration, a personal computer with a K6 outperformed an identical PC with a chip from Intel. It ran through several applications about 10 seconds faster.

``It was impressive,'' said Daniel Klesken, a semiconductor industry analyst at Robertson Stephens & Co. in San Francisco. ``For the first time in three years, they have a truly market-competitive product.''

But the real test, Klesken and other analysts said, is if AMD can get computer makers who use Intel's chips to buy the K6.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS

LENGTH: Short :   34 lines