Editing AMD (section)

==== {{anchor|K5|K6|Athlon|Duron|Sempron}}K5, K6, Athlon, Duron, and Sempron ====
{{Main|AMD K5|AMD K6|Athlon|Duron|Sempron}}

AMD's first in-house x86 processor was the [[AMD K5|K5]], launched in 1996.<ref name="CPU-INFO K5">{{cite web |title=AMD K5 |url=http://www.cpu-info.com/index2.php?mainid=html/cpu/amdk5.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818021000/http://www.cpu-info.com/index2.php?mainid=html%2Fcpu%2Famdk5.php |archive-date=August 18, 2007 |access-date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=CPU-INFO.COM}}</ref> The "K" in its name was a reference to [[Kryptonite]], the only substance known to harm comic book character [[Superman]]. This itself was a reference to Intel's hegemony over the market, i.e., an anthropomorphization of them as Superman.<ref name="Forbes-Chip-Names">{{Cite news |last=Hesseldahl |first=Arik |date=July 6, 2000 |title=Why Cool Chip Code Names Die |work=Forbes Inc |url=https://www.forbes.com/2000/07/06/mu2.html |access-date=July 14, 2007}}</ref> The number "5" was a reference to the fifth generation of x86 processors; rival Intel had previously introduced its line of fifth-generation x86 processors as [[Pentium]] because the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office had ruled that mere numbers could not be trademarked.<ref name="newyorker">{{Cite news |last=Colapinto |first=John|author-link=John Colapinto |date=October 3, 2011 |title=Famous names |pages=38–43 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_colapinto |access-date=October 12, 2011}}</ref>

In 1996, AMD purchased [[NexGen]], specifically for the rights to their Nx series of x86-compatible processors. AMD gave the NexGen design team their own building, left them alone, and gave them time and money to rework the Nx686. The result was the [[AMD K6|K6]] processor, introduced in 1997. Although it was based on [[Socket 7]], variants such as [[K6-III]]/450 were faster than Intel's [[Pentium II]] (sixth-generation processor).

The K7 was AMD's seventh-generation x86 processor, making its debut under the brand name [[Athlon]] on June 23, 1999. Unlike previous AMD processors, it could not be used on the same motherboards as Intel's, due to licensing issues surrounding Intel's [[Slot 1]] connector, and instead used a [[Slot A]] connector, referenced to the [[DEC Alpha|Alpha]] processor bus. The [[Duron]] was a lower-cost and limited version of the Athlon (64&nbsp;KB instead of 256&nbsp;KB L2 cache) in a 462-pin [[CPU socket|socketed]] [[Pin grid array|PGA]] (socket A) or soldered directly onto the motherboard. [[Sempron]] was released as a lower-cost Athlon XP, replacing Duron in the [[socket A]] PGA era. It has since been migrated upward to all new sockets, up to [[AM3]].

On October 9, 2001, the [[Athlon XP]] was released. On February 10, 2003, the Athlon XP with 512&nbsp;KB L2 Cache was released.<ref name="The AMD Athlon XP Processor with 512 KB L2 Cache">{{Cite news |last=Huynh |first=Jack |date=February 10, 2003 |title=The AMD Athlon XP Processor with 512KB L2 Cache |work=amd.com |publisher=AMD |url=https://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26485A_AthlXPwp_2-20.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=October 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026182602/http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26485A_AthlXPwp_2-20.pdf |archive-date=October 26, 2007}}</ref>