AMD was founded in 1969 byJerry Sanders and a group of other technology professionals. The company's early products were primarily memory chips and other components for computers. In 1975, AMD entered the microprocessor market, competing withIntel, its main rival in the industry. In the early 2000s, it experienced significant growth and success, thanks in part to its strong position in the PC market and the success of itsAthlon andOpteron processors. However, the company faced challenges in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as it struggled to keep up with Intel in the race to produce faster and more powerful processors.
In the late 2010s, AMD regainedmarket share by pursuing apenetration pricing strategy[3] and building on the success of itsRyzen processors, which were considerably more competitive withIntel microprocessors in terms of performance whilst offering attractive pricing.[4] In 2022, AMD surpassed Intel by market capitalization for the first time.[5][6]
Advanced Micro Devices was formally incorporated byJerry Sanders, along with seven of his colleagues fromFairchild Semiconductor, on May 1, 1969.[7][8] Sanders, anelectrical engineer who was the director of marketing at Fairchild, had, like many Fairchild executives, grown frustrated with the increasing lack of support, opportunity, and flexibility within the company. He later decided to leave to start his ownsemiconductor company,[9] following the footsteps ofRobert Noyce (developer of the first siliconintegrated circuit at Fairchild in 1959)[10] andGordon Moore, who together founded the semiconductor companyIntel in July 1968.[11]
In November 1969, the company manufactured its first product: the Am9300, a4-bitMSIshift register, which began selling in 1970.[18][19] Also in 1970, AMD produced its first proprietary product, the Am2501 logic counter, which was highly successful.[20][21] Its bestselling product in 1971 was the Am2505, the fastestmultiplier available.[20][22]
In 1971, AMD entered theRAM chip market, beginning with the Am3101, a64-bit bipolar RAM.[22][23] That year AMD also greatly increased the sales volume of its linear integrated circuits, and by year-end the company's total annual sales reached US$4.6 million.[20][24]
AMD went public in September 1972.[13][25][26] The company was a second source for IntelMOS/LSI circuits by 1973, with products such as Am14/1506 and Am14/1507, dual 100-bit dynamic shift registers.[27][28] By 1975, AMD was producing 212 products – of which 49 were proprietary, including the Am9102 (astaticN-channel 1024-bit RAM)[29] and three low-powerSchottkyMSI circuits: Am25LS07, Am25LS08, and Am25LS09.[30]
In 1977, AMD entered into a joint venture withSiemens, a German engineering conglomerate wishing to enhance its technology expertise and enter the American market.[40] Siemens purchased 20% of AMD's stock, giving the company an infusion of cash to increase its product lines.[40][41][42] The two companies also jointly established Advanced Micro Computers (AMC), located in Silicon Valley and in Germany, allowing AMD to enter themicrocomputer development and manufacturing field,[40][43][44][45] in particular based on AMD's second-sourceZilogZ8000 microprocessors.[46][47] When the two companies' vision for Advanced Micro Computers diverged, AMD bought out Siemens' stake in the American division in 1979.[48][49] AMD closed Advanced Micro Computers in late 1981 after switching focus to manufacturing second-source Intel x86 microprocessors.[46][50][51]
Intel had introduced the firstx86 microprocessors in 1978.[55] In 1981,IBM created itsPC, and wanted Intel's x86 processors, but only under the condition that Intel would also provide asecond-source manufacturer for its patented x86 microprocessors.[16] Intel and AMD entered into a 10-year technology exchange agreement, first signed in October 1981[50][56] and formally executed in February 1982.[39] The terms of the agreement were that each company could acquire the right to become a second-source manufacturer of semiconductor products developed by the other; that is, each party could "earn" the right to manufacture and sell a product developed by the other, if agreed to, by exchanging the manufacturing rights to a product of equivalent technical complexity. The technical information and licenses needed to make and sell a part would be exchanged for a royalty to the developing company.[38] The 1982 agreement also extended the 1976 AMD–Intel cross-licensing agreement through 1995.[38][39] The agreement included the right to invoke arbitration of disagreements, and after five years the right of either party to end the agreement with one year's notice.[38] The main result of the 1982 agreement was that AMD became a second-source manufacturer of Intel's x86 microprocessors and related chips, and Intel provided AMD with database tapes for its8086,80186, and80286 chips.[39] However, in the event of a bankruptcy or takeover of AMD, the cross-licensing agreement would be effectively canceled.[57]
Beginning in 1982, AMD began volume-producing second-source Intel-licensed 8086, 8088, 80186, and 80188 processors, and by 1984, its ownAm286 clone of Intel's 80286 processor, for the rapidly growing market of IBM PCs andIBM clones.[16][58] It also continued its successful concentration on proprietarybipolar chips.[59]
The company continued to spend greatly on research and development,[60] and created the world's first 512KEPROM in 1984.[61] That year, AMD was listed in the bookThe 100 Best Companies to Work for in America,[53][62] and later made theFortune 500 list for the first time in 1985.[63][64]
By mid-1985, the microchip market experienced a severe downturn, mainly due to long-term aggressive trade practices (dumping) from Japan, but also due to a crowded and non-innovative chip market in the United States.[65] AMD rode out the mid-1980s crisis by aggressively innovating and modernizing,[66] devising the Liberty Chip program of designing and manufacturing one new chip or chipset per week for 52 weeks infiscal year 1986,[53][67] and by heavily lobbying the U.S. government until sanctions and restrictions were put in place to prevent predatory Japanese pricing.[68] During this time, AMD withdrew from theDRAM market,[69] and made some headway into theCMOS market, which it had lagged in entering, having focused instead on bipolar chips.[70]
AMD had some success in the mid-1980s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip"FSK modem, one of the first multi-standard devices that covered both Bell andCCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex.[71] Beginning in 1986, AMD embraced the perceived shift towardRISC with their ownAMD Am29000 (29k) processor;[72] the 29k survived as anembedded processor.[73][74] The company also increased itsEPROM memory market share in the late 1980s.[75] Throughout the 1980s, AMD was a second-source supplier of Intel x86 processors. In 1991, it introduced its 386-compatibleAm386, an AMD-designed chip. Creating its own chips, AMD began to compete directly with Intel.[76]
AMD had a large, successfulflash memory business, even during thedotcom bust.[77] In 2003, to divest some manufacturing and aid its overall cash flow, which was under duress from aggressive microprocessor competition from Intel, AMD spun off its flash memory business and manufacturing intoSpansion, a joint venture withFujitsu, which had been co-manufacturing flash memory with AMD since 1993.[78][79] In December 2005, AMD divested itself of Spansion to focus on the microprocessor market, and Spansion went public in an IPO.[80]
On July 24, 2006, AMD announced its acquisition of the Canadian 3D graphics card companyATI Technologies. AMD paid $4.3 billion and 58 million shares of itscapital stock, for approximately $5.4 billion. The transaction was completed on October 25, 2006.[81] On August 30, 2010, AMD announced that it would retire the ATI brand name for its graphics chipsets in favor of the AMD brand name.[82][83]
In October 2008, AMD announced plans to spin off manufacturing operations in the form ofGlobalFoundries Inc., a multibillion-dollar joint venture withAdvanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company formed by the government ofAbu Dhabi. The partnership and spin-off gave AMD an infusion of cash and allowed it to focus solely on chip design.[84] To assure the Abu Dhabi investors of the new venture's success, AMD's CEOHector Ruiz stepped down in July 2008, while remaining executive chairman, in preparation for becoming chairman of GlobalFoundries in March 2009.[85][86] President and COODirk Meyer became AMD's CEO.[87] Recessionary losses necessitated AMD cutting 1,100 jobs in 2009.[88]
In August 2011, AMD announced that formerLenovo executiveRory Read would be joining the company as CEO, replacing Meyer.[89] In November 2011, AMD announced plans to lay off more than 10% (1,400) of its employees from across all divisions worldwide.[90] In October 2012, it announced plans to lay off an additional 15% of its workforce to reduce costs in the face of declining sales revenue.[91] The inclusion of AMD chips into thePlayStation 4 andXbox One were later seen as saving AMD from bankruptcy.[92][93]
AMD acquired the low-power server manufacturerSeaMicro in early 2012, with an eye to bringing out anArm64 server chip.[94]
On October 8, 2014, AMD announced that Rory Read had stepped down after three years as president and chief executive officer.[95] He was succeeded byLisa Su, a key lieutenant who had been chief operating officer since June.[96]
On October 16, 2014, AMD announced a new restructuring plan along with its Q3 results. Effective July 1, 2014, AMD reorganized into two business groups: Computing and Graphics, which primarily includes desktop and notebook processors and chipsets, discrete GPUs, and professional graphics; and Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom, which primarily includes server and embedded processors, dense servers, semi-custom SoC products (includingsolutions for gaming consoles), engineering services, and royalties. As part of this restructuring, AMD announced that 7% of its global workforce would be laid off by the end of 2014.[97]
After the GlobalFoundries spin-off and subsequent layoffs, AMD was left with significant vacant space at 1 AMD Place, its aging Sunnyvale headquarters office complex. In August 2016, AMD's 47 years in Sunnyvale came to a close when it signed a lease with theIrvine Company for a new 220,000 sq. ft. headquarters building in Santa Clara.[98] AMD's new location at Santa Clara Square faces the headquarters of archrival Intel across theBayshore Freeway andSan Tomas Aquino Creek. Around the same time, AMD also agreed to sell 1 AMD Place to the Irvine Company.[99] In April 2019, the Irvine Company secured approval from the Sunnyvale City Council of its plans to demolish 1 AMD Place and redevelop the entire 32-acre site into townhomes and apartments.[99]
In March 2024, a rally in semiconductor stocks pushed AMD's valuation above $300B for the first time.[105]
In July 2024, AMD announced that it would acquire the Finnish-basedartificial intelligence startup company Silo AI in a $665 million all-cash deal in an attempt to better compete with AI chip market leaderNvidia.[106]
In August 2024, AMD sign a deal to acquire ZT Systems for $4.9 Billion. The company creates custom computing infrastructure that is used for AI tasks.[107]
In February 1982, AMD signed a contract withIntel, becoming a licensed second-source manufacturer of8086 and8088 processors.IBM wanted to use the Intel 8088 in itsIBM PC, but its policy at the time was to require at least two sources for its chips. AMD later produced theAm286 under the same arrangement. In 1984, Intel internally decided to no longer cooperate with AMD in supplying product information to shore up its advantage in the marketplace, and delayed and eventually refused to convey the technical details of theIntel 80386.[108] In 1987, AMD invoked arbitration over the issue, and Intel reacted by canceling the 1982 technological-exchange agreement altogether.[109][110] After three years of testimony, AMD eventually won in arbitration in 1992, but Intel disputed this decision. Another long legal dispute followed, ending in 1994 when theSupreme Court of California sided with the arbitrator and AMD.[111][112]
In 1990, Intel countersued AMD, renegotiating AMD's right to use derivatives of Intel'smicrocode for its cloned processors.[113] In the face of uncertainty during the legal dispute, AMD was forced to developclean room designed versions of Intel code for its x386 and x486 processors, the former long after Intel had released its own x386 in 1985.[114] In March 1991, AMD released theAm386, its clone of the Intel 386 processor.[53] By October of the same year it had sold one million units.[53]
In 1993, AMD introduced the first of theAm486 family of processors,[21] which proved popular with a large number oforiginal equipment manufacturers, includingCompaq, which signed an exclusive agreement using the Am486.[13][115][116] TheAm5x86, another Am486-based processor, was released in November 1995, and continued AMD's success as a fast, cost-effective processor.[117][118]
Finally, in an agreement effective 1996, AMD received the rights to the microcode in Intel's x386 and x486 processor families, but not the rights to the microcode in the following generations of processors.[119][120]
AMD's first in-house x86 processor was theK5, launched in 1996.[121] The "K" in its name was a reference toKryptonite, the only substance known to harm comic book characterSuperman. This itself was a reference to Intel's hegemony over the market, i.e., an anthropomorphization of them as Superman.[122] 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 asPentium because the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office had ruled that mere numbers could not be trademarked.[123]
In 1996, AMD purchasedNexGen, 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 theK6 processor, introduced in 1997. Although it was based onSocket 7, variants such asK6-III/450 were faster than Intel'sPentium II (sixth-generation processor).
The K7 was AMD's seventh-generation x86 processor, making its debut under the brand nameAthlon 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'sSlot 1 connector, and instead used aSlot A connector, referenced to theAlpha processor bus. TheDuron was a lower-cost and limited version of the Athlon (64 KB instead of 256 KB L2 cache) in a 462-pinsocketedPGA (socket A) or soldered directly onto the motherboard.Sempron was released as a lower-cost Athlon XP, replacing Duron in thesocket A PGA era. It has since been migrated upward to all new sockets, up toAM3.
On October 9, 2001, theAthlon XP was released. On February 10, 2003, the Athlon XP with 512 KB L2 Cache was released.[124]
The K8 was a major revision of the K7 architecture, with the most notable features being the addition of a64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set (calledx86-64, AMD64, or x64), the incorporation of an on-chip memory controller, and the implementation of an extremely high-performance point-to-point interconnect calledHyperTransport, as part of theDirect Connect Architecture. The technology was initially launched as theOpteron server-oriented processor on April 22, 2003.[125] Shortly thereafter, it was incorporated into a product for desktop PCs, brandedAthlon 64.[126]
On April 21, 2005, AMD released the firstdual-coreOpteron, an x86-based server CPU.[127] A month later, it released theAthlon 64 X2, the first desktop-baseddual-core processor family.[128] In May 2007, AMD abandoned the string "64" in its dual-core desktop product branding, becoming Athlon X2, downplaying the significance of64-bit computing in its processors. Further updates involved improvements to the microarchitecture, and a shift of the target market from mainstream desktop systems to value dual-core desktop systems. In 2008, AMD started to release dual-core Sempron processors exclusively in China, branded as the Sempron 2000 series, with lower HyperTransport speed and smaller L2 cache. AMD completed its dual-core product portfolio for each market segment.
In September 2007, AMD released the first server OpteronK10 processors,[129] followed in November by thePhenom processor for desktop. K10 processors came in dual-core,triple-core,[130] andquad-core versions, with all cores on a single die. AMD released a new platform codenamed "Spider", which used the new Phenom processor, and an R770 GPU and a 790 GX/FX chipset from theAMD 700 chipset series.[131] However, AMD built the Spider at65nm, which was uncompetitive with Intel's smaller and more power-efficient45nm.
In January 2009, AMD released a new processor line dubbedPhenom II, a refresh of the originalPhenom built using the 45 nm process.[132] AMD's new platform, codenamed "Dragon", used the new Phenom II processor, and anATI R770 GPU from theR700 GPU family, and a 790 GX/FX chipset from theAMD 700 chipset series.[133] The Phenom II came in dual-core, triple-core and quad-core variants, all using the same die, with cores disabled for the triple-core and dual-core versions. The Phenom II resolved issues that the original Phenom had, including a low clock speed, a small L3 cache, and aCool'n'Quiet bug that decreased performance. The Phenom II cost less but was not performance-competitive with Intel's mid-to-high-rangeCore 2 Quads. The Phenom II also enhanced its predecessor's memory controller, allowing it to useDDR3 in a new native socketAM3, while maintaining backward compatibility withAM2+, the socket used for the Phenom, and allowing the use of theDDR2 memory that was used with the platform.
In April 2010, AMD released a new Phenom II Hexa-core (6-core) processor codenamed "Thuban".[134] This was a totally new die based on the hexa-core "Istanbul"Opteron processor. It included AMD's "turbo core" technology, which allows the processor to automatically switch from 6 cores to 3 faster cores when more pure speed is needed.
TheMagny Cours andLisbon server parts were released in 2010.[135] The Magny Cours part came in 8 to 12 cores and the Lisbon part in 4 and 6 core parts. Magny Cours is focused on performance while the Lisbon part is focused on high performance per watt. Magny Cours is an MCM (multi-chip module) with two hexa-core "Istanbul"Opteron parts. This will use a newsocket G34 for dual and quad-socket processors and thus will be marketed as Opteron 61xx series processors. Lisbon usessocket C32 certified for dual-socket use or single socket use only and thus will be marketed as Opteron 41xx processors. Both will be built on a45 nmSOI process.
Following AMD's 2006 acquisition of Canadian graphics companyATI Technologies, an initiative codenamedFusion was announced to integrate aCPU andGPU together on some of AMD's microprocessors, including a built inPCI Express link to accommodate separate PCI Express peripherals, eliminating thenorthbridge chip from the motherboard. The initiative intended to move some of the processing originally done on the CPU (e.g.floating-point unit operations) to the GPU, which is better optimized for some calculations. The Fusion was later renamed theAMD APU (Accelerated Processing Unit).[136]
Llano was AMD's first APU built for laptops. Llano was the second APU released,[137] targeted at the mainstream market.[136] It incorporated a CPU and GPU on the same die, and northbridge functions, and used "Socket FM1" withDDR3 memory. The CPU part of the processor was based on thePhenom II "Deneb" processor. AMD suffered an unexpected decrease in revenue based on production problems for the Llano.[138] More AMD APUs for laptops running Windows 7 and Windows 8 OS are being used commonly. These include AMD's price-point APUs, the E1 and E2, and their mainstream competitors with Intel'sCore i-series: The Vision A- series, the A standing for accelerated. These range from the lower-performance A4 chipset to the A6, A8, and A10. These all incorporate next-generation Radeon graphics cards, with the A4 utilizing the base Radeon HD chip and the rest using a Radeon R4 graphics card, with the exception of the highest-model A10 (A10-7300) which uses an R6 graphics card.
Bulldozer was AMD's microarchitecture codename for server and desktopAMD FX processors, first released on October 12, 2011. Thisfamily 15h microarchitecture is the successor to thefamily 10h (K10) microarchitecture design. Bulldozer was a clean-sheet design, not a development of earlier processors.[139] The core was specifically aimed at 10–125 WTDP computing products. AMD claimed dramatic performance-per-watt efficiency improvements inhigh-performance computing (HPC) applications with Bulldozer cores. While hopes were high that Bulldozer would bring AMD to be performance-competitive with Intel once more, most benchmarks were disappointing. In some cases the new Bulldozer products were slower than the K10 models they were built to replace.[140][141][142]
ThePiledriver microarchitecture was the 2012 successor to Bulldozer, increasing clock speeds and performance relative to its predecessor.[143] Piledriver would be released in AMD FX, APU, and Opteron product lines.[144][145][146][147] Piledriver was subsequently followed by theSteamroller microarchitecture in 2013. Used exclusively in AMD's APUs, Steamroller focused on greater parallelism.[148][149]
In 2015, theExcavator microarchitecture replaced Piledriver.[150] Expected to be the last microarchitecture of the Bulldozer series,[151][152] Excavator focused on improved power efficiency.[153]
TheBobcat microarchitecture was revealed during a speech from AMD executive vice-president Henri Richard inComputex 2007 and was put into production during the first quarter of 2011.[137] Based on the difficulty competing in the x86 market with a single core optimized for the 10–100 W range, AMD had developed a simpler core with a target range of 1–10 watts.[154] In addition, it was believed that the core could migrate into the hand-held space if the power consumption can be reduced to less than 1 W.[155]
In 2012, AMD announced it was working onARM products, both as a semi-custom product and server product.[168][169][170] The initial server product was announced as theOpteron A1100 in 2014, an 8-coreCortex-A57-basedARMv8-ASoC,[171][172] and was expected to be followed by an APU incorporating aGraphics Core Next GPU.[173] However, the Opteron A1100 was not released until 2016, with the delay attributed to adding software support.[174] The A1100 was also criticized for not having support from major vendors upon its release.[174][175][176]
In 2014, AMD also announced theK12 custom core for release in 2016.[177] While beingARMv8-Ainstruction set architecture compliant, the K12 was expected to be entirely custom-designed, targeting the server, embedded, and semi-custom markets. While ARM architecture development continued, products based on K12 were subsequently delayed with no release planned. Development of AMD's x86-based Zen microarchitecture was preferred.[178][179]
Zen is an architecture for x86-64 basedRyzen series of CPUs and APUs, introduced in 2017 by AMD and built from the ground up by a team led byJim Keller, beginning with his arrival in 2012, andtaping out before his departure in September 2015.
One of AMD's primary goals with Zen was anIPC increase of at least 40%, however in February 2017 AMD announced that they had actually achieved a 52% increase.[180] Processors made on the Zen architecture are built on the 14 nm FinFET node and have a renewed focus on single-core performance andHSA compatibility.[181] Previous processors from AMD were either built in the 32 nm process ("Bulldozer" and "Piledriver" CPUs) or the 28 nm process ("Steamroller" and "Excavator" APUs). Because of this, Zen is much more energy efficient.
The Zen architecture is the first to encompass CPUs and APUs from AMD built for a single socket (Socket AM4). Also new for this architecture is the implementation ofsimultaneous multithreading (SMT) technology, something Intel has had for years on some of their processors with their proprietaryhyper-threading implementation of SMT. This is a departure from the "Clustered MultiThreading" design introduced with the Bulldozer architecture. Zen also has support forDDR4 memory.
AMD released the Zen-based high-end Ryzen 7 "Summit Ridge" series CPUs on March 2, 2017,[182] mid-range Ryzen 5 series CPUs on April 11, 2017, and entry level Ryzen 3 series CPUs on July 27, 2017.[183] AMD later released theEpyc line of Zen derived server processors for 1P and 2P systems.[184] In October 2017, AMD released Zen-based APUs as Ryzen Mobile, incorporatingVega graphics cores.[185] In January 2018 AMD has announced their new lineup plans, with Ryzen 2.[186] AMD launched CPUs with the12nm Zen+[187] microarchitecture in April 2018, following up with the7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture in June 2019, including an update to the Epyc line with new processors using the Zen 2 microarchitecture in August 2019, and Zen 3 slated for release in Q3 2020.
As of 2019, AMD's Ryzen processors were reported to outsell Intel's consumer desktop processors.[188] At CES 2020 AMD announced their Ryzen Mobile 4000, as the first 7 nm x86 mobile processor,[vague] the first 7 nm 8-core (also 16-thread) high-performance mobile processor, and the first 8-core (also 16-thread) processor for ultrathin laptops.[189] This generation is still based on the Zen 2 architecture. In October 2020, AMD announced new processors based on the Zen 3 architecture.[190] On PassMark's Single thread performance test the Ryzen 5 5600x bested all other CPUs besides the Ryzen 9 5950X.[191]
In April 2020, AMD launched three new SKUs which target commercial HPC workloads & hyperconverged infrastructure applications. The launch was based onEpyc’s 7 nm second-generation Rome platform and supported byDell EMC,Hewlett Packard Enterprise,Lenovo,Supermicro, andNutanix.IBM Cloud was its first public cloud partner.[192] In August 2022, AMD announced their initial lineup of CPUs based on the newZen 4 architecture.[193]
Lee Ka Lau,[199] Francis Lau, Benny Lau, and Kwok Yuen Ho[200] founded ATI in 1985 as Array Technology Inc.[201]Working primarily in theOEM field, ATI produced integrated graphics cards for PC manufacturers such asIBM andCommodore. By 1987, ATI had grown into an independent graphics-card retailer, introducing EGA Wonder and VGA Wonder card product lines that year.[202] In the early nineties, they released products able to process graphics without the CPU: in May 1991, the Mach8, in 1992 the Mach32, which offered improved memory bandwidth andGUI acceleration. ATI Technologies Inc. went public in 1993, with shares listed onNASDAQ and on theToronto Stock Exchange.
ATI's former Silicon Valley office at 4555 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CAATI "Graphics Solution Rev 3" from 1985/1986, supportingHercules graphics. As thePCB reveals, the layout dates from 1985, whereas the marking on the central chipCW16800-A says "8639"—meaning that chip was manufactured in week 39, 1986. NoticeUM6845E CRT controller. This card uses theISA 8-bit interface.ATI VGA Wonder with 256 KB RAM
In 1994, the Mach64 accelerator debuted, powering the Graphics Xpression and Graphics Pro Turbo, offering hardware support forYUV-to-RGBcolour space conversion in addition to hardware zoom; early techniques of hardware-based video acceleration.
ATI introduced its first combination of 2D and3D accelerator under the name3D Rage. This chip was based on the Mach 64, but it featured elemental 3D acceleration. The ATI Rage line powered almost the entire range of ATI graphics products. In particular, theRage Pro was one of the first viable 2D-plus-3D alternatives to3dfx's 3D-only Voodoo chipset. 3D acceleration in the Rage line advanced from the basic functionality within the initial 3D Rage to a more advancedDirectX 6.0 accelerator in 1999Rage 128.
TheAll-in-Wonder product line, introduced in 1996, was the first combination of integrated graphics chip withTV tuner card and the first chip that enabled display of computer graphics on a TV set.[203] The cards featured 3D acceleration powered by ATI's 3D RageII, 64-bit 2D performance, TV-quality video acceleration, analogue video capture, TV tuner functionality, flicker-free TV-out and stereo TV audio reception.
ATI entered the mobile computing sector by introducing 3D-graphics acceleration to laptops in 1996. The Mobility product line had to meet requirements different from those of desktop PCs, such as minimized power usage, reduced heat output,TMDS output capabilities for laptop screens, and maximized integration. In 1997, ATI acquiredTseng Labs's graphics assets, which included 40 engineers.
TheRadeon line of graphics products was unveiled in 2000. The initial Radeongraphics processing unit offered an all-new design with DirectX 7.0 3D acceleration, video acceleration, and 2D acceleration. Technology developed for a specific Radeon generation could be built in varying levels of features and performance in order to provide products suited for the entire market range, from high-end to budget to mobile versions.
In 2000, ATI acquiredArtX, which engineered theFlipper graphics chip used in theGameCube video game console. They also created a modified version of the chip (codenamedHollywood) for the successor of the GameCube, theWii.Microsoft contracted ATI to design the graphics core (codenamedXenos) for theXbox 360. Later in 2005, ATI acquiredTerayon's cable modemsilicon intellectual property, strengthening their lead in the consumer digital television market.[204] K. Y. Ho remained as Chairman of the Board until he retired in November 2005.Dave Orton replaced him as the President and CEO of the organization.
On July 24, 2006, a joint announcement revealed thatAMD wouldacquire ATI in a deal valued at $5.6 billion.[205] The acquisition consideration closed on October 25, 2006,[206] and included over $2 billion financed from a loan and 56 million shares of AMD stock.[207] ATI's operations became part of the AMD Graphics Product Group (GPG),[208] and ATI's CEO Dave Orton became the Executive Vice President of Visual and Media Businesses at AMD until his resignation in 2007.[209] The top-level management was reorganized with the Senior Vice President and General Manager, and the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Electronics Group, both of whom would report to the CEO of AMD.[210] On 30 August 2010, John Trikola announced that AMD would retire the ATI brand for its graphics chipsets in favour of the AMD name.[211]
In 2007, the ATI division of AMD released theTeraScale microarchitecture implementing aunified shader model. This design replaced the previous fixed-function hardware of previous graphics cards with multipurpose, programmable shaders. Initially released as part of the GPU for theXbox 360, this technology would go on to be used in Radeon branded HD 2000 parts. Three generations of TeraScale would be designed and used in parts from 2007 to 2015.
In a 2009 restructuring, AMD merged the CPU and GPU divisions to support the company's APUs, which fused both graphics and general purpose processing.[212][213] In 2011, AMD released the successor to TeraScale,Graphics Core Next (GCN).[214] This new microarchitecture emphasizedGPGPU compute capability in addition to graphics processing, with a particular aim of supporting heterogeneous computing on AMD's APUs. GCN'sreduced instruction setISA allowed for significantly increased compute capability over TeraScale'svery long instruction word ISA. Since GCN's introduction with theHD 7970, five generations of the GCN architecture have been produced from 2011 through at least 2018.[215]
In September 2015, AMD separated the graphics technology division of the company into an independent internal unit called theRadeon Technologies Group (RTG) headed byRaja Koduri.[216] This gave the graphics division of AMD autonomy in product design and marketing.[217][218] The RTG then went on to create and release thePolaris andVega microarchitectures released in 2016 and 2017, respectively.[219][220] In particular the Vega, or fifth-generationGCN, microarchitecture includes a number of major revisions to improve performance and compute capabilities.[221][222]
In November 2017, Raja Koduri left RTG[223] and CEO and President Lisa Su took his position. In January 2018, it was reported that two industry veterans joined RTG, namelyMike Rayfield as senior vice president and general manager of RTG, andDavid Wang as senior vice president of engineering for RTG.[224] In January 2020, AMD announced that its second-generationRDNA graphics architecture was in development, with the aim of competing with theNvidiaRTX graphics products for performance leadership. In October 2020, AMD announced their newRX 6000 series[225] series GPUs, their first high-end product based on RDNA2 and capable of handling ray-tracing natively, aiming to challenge Nvidia's RTX 3000 GPUs.
In 2012, AMD's then CEORory Read began a program to offer semi-custom designs.[226][227] Rather than AMD simply designing and offering a single product, potential customers could work with AMD to design a custom chip based on AMD's intellectual property. Customers pay a non-recurring engineering fee for design and development, and a purchase price for the resulting semi-custom products. In particular, AMD noted their unique position of offering both x86 and graphics intellectual property. These semi-custom designs would have design wins as the APUs in thePlayStation 4 andXbox One and the subsequent PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One S, Xbox One X,Xbox Series X/S, andPlayStation 5.[228][229][230][163][166][231] Financially, these semi-custom products would represent a majority of the company's revenue in 2016.[232][233] In November 2017, AMD and Intel announced that Intel would market a product combining in a single package anIntel Core CPU, a semi-custom AMD Radeon GPU, andHBM2 memory.[234]
Before the launch ofAthlon 64 processors in 2003, AMD designedchipsets for their processors spanning theK6 andK7 processor generations. The chipsets include the AMD-640, AMD-751, and the AMD-761 chipsets. The situation changed in 2003 with the release of Athlon 64 processors, and AMD chose not to further design its own chipsets for its desktop processors while opening the desktop platform to allow other firms to design chipsets. This was the "Open Platform Management Architecture" withATI,VIA andSiS developing their own chipset forAthlon 64 processors and laterAthlon 64 X2 andAthlon 64 FX processors, including theQuad FX platform chipset from Nvidia.
The initiative went further with the release ofOpteron server processors as AMD stopped the design of server chipsets in 2004 after releasing the AMD-8111 chipset, and again opened the server platform for firms to develop chipsets for Opteron processors. As of today,[when?] Nvidia andBroadcom are the sole designing firms of server chipsets for Opteron processors.
As the company completed the acquisition of ATI Technologies in 2006, the firm gained the ATI design team for chipsets which previously designed theRadeon Xpress 200 and theRadeon Xpress 3200 chipsets. AMD then renamed the chipsets for AMD processors under AMD branding (for instance, the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset was renamed asAMD 580X CrossFire chipset). In February 2007, AMD announced the first AMD-branded chipset since 2004 with the release of the AMD690G chipset (previously under the development codenameRS690), targeted at mainstreamIGP computing. It was the industry's first to implement aHDMI 1.2 port on motherboards, shipping for more than a million units. While ATI had aimed at releasing an Intel IGP chipset, the plan was scrapped and the inventories ofRadeon Xpress 1250 (codenamedRS600, sold under ATI brand) was sold to two OEMs, Abit and ASRock. Although AMD stated the firm would still produce Intel chipsets, Intel had not granted the license of1333 MHz FSB to ATI.
On November 15, 2007, AMD announced a new chipset series portfolio, theAMD 7-Series chipsets, covering from the enthusiast multi-graphics segment to the value IGP segment, to replace theAMD 480/570/580 chipsets andAMD 690 series chipsets, marking AMD's first enthusiast multi-graphics chipset. Discrete graphics chipsets were launched on November 15, 2007, as part of the codenamedSpider desktop platform, and IGP chipsets were launched at a later time in spring 2008 as part of the codenamedCartwheel platform.
With the advent of AMD's APUs in 2011, traditional northbridge features such as the connection to graphics and the PCI Express controller were incorporated into the APU die. Accordingly, APUs were connected to a single chip chipset, renamed the Fusion Controller Hub (FCH), which primarily provided southbridge functionality.[235]
AMD released new chipsets in 2017 to support the release of their newRyzen products. As theZen microarchitecture already includes much of the northbridge connectivity, the AM4-based chipsets primarily varied in the number of additional PCI Express lanes, USB connections, and SATA connections available.[236] These AM4 chipsets were designed in conjunction withASMedia.[237]
In February 2002, AMD acquired Alchemy Semiconductor for itsAlchemy line ofMIPS processors for the hand-held andportable media player markets.[240] On June 13, 2006, AMD officially announced that the line was to be transferred to Raza Microelectronics, Inc., a designer of MIPS processors for embedded applications.[241]
In August 2003, AMD also purchased theGeode business which was originally theCyrixMediaGX fromNational Semiconductor to augment its existing line of embedded x86 processor products.[242] During the second quarter of 2004, it launched new low-power Geode NX processors based on the K7 Thoroughbred architecture with speeds of fanless processors667 MHz and1 GHz, and1.4 GHz processor with fan, ofTDP 25 W. This technology is used in a variety of embedded systems (Casino slot machines and customer kiosks for instance), severalUMPC designs in Asia markets, and theOLPCXO-1 computer, an inexpensive laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world.[243] The Geode LX processor was announced in 2005 and is said will continue to be available through 2015.[needs update]
AMD has also introduced64-bit processors into its embedded product line starting with the AMDOpteron processor. Leveraging the high throughput enabled throughHyperTransport and theDirect Connect Architecture these server-class processors have been targeted at high-end telecom and storage applications. In 2007, AMD added the AMD Athlon,AMD Turion, and Mobile AMD Sempron processors to its embedded product line. Leveraging the same64-bit instruction set andDirect Connect Architecture as the AMDOpteron but at lower power levels, these processors were well suited to a variety of traditional embedded applications. Throughout 2007 and into 2008, AMD has continued to add both single-core Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors anddual-core AMD Athlon X2 and AMD Turion processors to its embedded product line and now offers embedded64-bit solutions starting with 8 W TDP Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors for fan-less designs up to multi-processor systems leveraging multi-core AMD Opteron processors all supporting longer than standard availability.[244]
The ATI acquisition in 2006 included theImageon andXilleon product lines. In late 2008, the entire handheld division was sold off toQualcomm, who have since produced theAdreno series.[245] Also in 2008, the Xilleon division was sold toBroadcom.[246][247]
In April 2007, AMD announced the release of theM690T integrated graphics chipset for embedded designs. This enabled AMD to offer complete processor and chipset solutions targeted at embedded applications requiring high-performance 3D and video such as emerging digital signage, kiosk, and Point of Sale applications. The M690T was followed by theM690E specifically for embedded applications which removed the TV output, which requiredMacrovision licensing for OEMs, and enabled native support for dualTMDS outputs, enabling dual independentDVI interfaces.[citation needed][248]
In January 2011, AMD announced the AMD Embedded G-SeriesAccelerated Processing Unit.[249][250] This was the first APU for embedded applications. These were followed by updates in 2013 and 2016.[251][252]
In May 2012, AMD Announced the AMD Embedded R-SeriesAccelerated Processing Unit.[253] This family of products incorporates the Bulldozer CPU architecture, and Discrete-class Radeon HD 7000G Series graphics. This was followed by a system-on-a-chip (SoC) version in 2015 which offered a faster CPU and faster graphics, with support forDDR4 SDRAM memory.[254][255]
AMD builds graphic processors for use inembedded systems. They can be found in anything from casinos to healthcare, with a large portion of products being used in industrial machines.[256] These products include a complete graphics processing device in a compactmulti-chip module including RAM and the GPU.[257] ATI began offering embedded GPUs with the E2400 in 2008. Since that time AMD has released regular updates to their embedded GPU lineup in 2009, 2011, 2015, and 2016; reflecting improvements in their GPU technology.[257][258][259][260]
In 2011, AMD began selling Radeon brandedDDR3 SDRAM to support the higher bandwidth needs of AMD's APUs.[262] While the RAM is sold by AMD, it was manufactured byPatriot Memory and VisionTek. This was later followed by higher speeds of gaming oriented DDR3 memory in 2013.[263] Radeon brandedDDR4 SDRAM memory was released in 2015, despite no AMD CPUs or APUs supporting DDR4 at the time.[264] AMD noted in 2017 that these products are "mostly distributed in Eastern Europe" and that it continues to be active in the business.[265]
AMD Radeon Software is the default channel for official software distribution from AMD. It includes both free and proprietary software components, and supports bothMicrosoft Windows andLinux.
AOCC is AMD's optimizing proprietary C/C++ compiler based on LLVM and available for Linux.[270]
AMDuProf is AMD's CPU performance and Power profiling tool suite, available for Linux and Windows.[271]
AMD has also taken an active part in developingcoreboot, an open-source project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware. This cooperation ceased in 2013, but AMD has indicated recently[when?] that it is considering releasing source code so that Ryzen can be compatible with coreboot in the future.[272]
AMD contributes toopen-source projects, including working withSun Microsystems to enhanceOpenSolaris andSun xVM on the AMD platform.[274] AMD also maintains its ownOpen64 compiler distribution and contributes its changes back to the community.[275]
In 2008, AMD released the low-level programming specifications for itsGPUs, and works with theX.Org Foundation to develop drivers for AMD graphics cards.[276][277]
Extensions for software parallelism (xSP), aimed at speeding up programs to enable multi-threaded and multi-core processing, announced in Technology Analyst Day 2007. One of the initiatives being discussed since August 2007 is the Light WeightProfiling (LWP), providing internal hardware monitor with runtimes, to observe information about executing process and help the re-design of software to be optimized with multi-core and even multi-threaded programs. Another one is the extension of Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE) instruction set, theSSE5.
CodenamedSIMFIRE – interoperability testing tool for the Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH)open architecture.
Previously, AMD produced its chips at company-ownedsemiconductor foundries. AMD pursued a strategy of collaboration with other semiconductor manufacturersIBM andMotorola to co-develop production technologies.[278][279] AMD's founder Jerry Sanders termed this the "Virtual Gorilla" strategy to compete with Intel's significantly greater investments in fabrication.[280]
In 2008, AMD spun off its chip foundries into an independent company namedGlobalFoundries.[281] This breakup of the company was attributed to the increasing costs of each process node. TheEmirate of Abu Dhabi purchased the newly created company through its subsidiaryAdvanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), purchasing the final stake from AMD in 2009.[282]
With the spin-off of its foundries, AMD became afabless semiconductor manufacturer, designing products to be produced at for-hire foundries. Part of the GlobalFoundries spin-off included an agreement with AMD to produce some number of products at GlobalFoundries.[283] Both prior to the spin-off and after AMD has pursued production with other foundries includingTSMC andSamsung.[284][285] It has been argued that this would reduce risk for AMD by decreasing dependence on any one foundry which has caused issues in the past.[285][286]
In 2018, AMD started shifting the production of their CPUs and GPUs to TSMC, following GlobalFoundries' announcement that they were halting development of their7 nm process.[287] AMD revised their wafer purchase requirement with GlobalFoundries in 2019, allowing AMD to freely choose foundries for 7 nm nodes and below, while maintaining purchase agreements for 12 nm and above through 2021.[288]
AMD uses strategic industry partnerships to further its business interests and to rival Intel's dominance and resources:[278][279][280]
A partnership between AMD and Alpha Processor Inc. developedHyperTransport, a point-to-point interconnect standard which was turned over to an industry standards body for finalization.[290] It is now used in modern motherboards that are compatible with AMD processors.
AMD also formed a strategic partnership with IBM, under which AMD gainedsilicon on insulator (SOI) manufacturing technology, and detailed advice on90 nm implementation. AMD announced that the partnership would extend to 2011 for32 nm and22 nm fabrication-related technologies.[291]
To facilitate processor distribution and sales, AMD is loosely partnered with end-user companies, such asHP,Dell,Asus,Acer, andMicrosoft.[292]
In 1993, AMD established a 50–50 partnership withFujitsu called FASL, and merged into a new company called FASL LLC in 2003. The joint venture went public under the nameSpansion and ticker symbol SPSN in December 2005, with AMD shares dropping 37%. AMD no longer directly participates in the Flash memory devices market now as AMD entered into a non-competition agreement on December 21, 2005, with Fujitsu and Spansion, pursuant to which it agreed not to directly or indirectly engage in a business that manufactures or supplies standalone semiconductor devices (including single-chip, multiple-chip or system devices) containing only Flash memory.[293]
On May 18, 2006, Dell announced that it would roll out new servers based on AMD's Opteron chips by year's end, thus ending an exclusive relationship with Intel.[294] In September 2006, Dell began offering AMD Athlon X2 chips in their desktop lineup.
In June 2011, HP announced new business and consumer notebooks equipped with the latest versions of AMD APUs – accelerated processing units. AMD will power HP's Intel-based business notebooks as well.[295]
In the spring of 2013, AMD announced that it would be poweringall three major next-generation consoles.[296] TheXbox One andSonyPlayStation 4 are both powered by a custom-built AMD APU, and theNintendoWii U is powered by an AMD GPU.[297] According to AMD, having their processors in all three of these consoles will greatly assist developers with cross-platform development to competing consoles and PCs and increased support for their products across the board.[298]
AMD has entered into an agreement with Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (HSMC) for the production of AMD products in India.[299]
On May 7, 2019, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Energy,Oak Ridge National Laboratory, andCray Inc., are working in collaboration with AMD to develop the Frontier exascale supercomputer. Featuring the AMDEpyc CPUs andRadeon GPUs, the supercomputer is set to produce more than 1.5 exaflops (peak double-precision) in computing performance. It is expected to debut sometime in 2021.[302]
On March 5, 2020, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Energy,Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, andHPE are working in collaboration with AMD to develop the El Capitan exascale supercomputer. Featuring the AMDEpyc CPUs andRadeon GPUs, the supercomputer is set to produce more than 2 exaflops (peak double-precision) in computing performance. It is expected to debut in 2023.[303]
On November 8, 2021, AMD announced a partnership withMeta to make the chips used in theMetaverse.[305]
In January 2022, AMD partnered with Samsung to develop a mobile processor to be used in future products. The processor was named Exynos 2022 and works with the AMD RDNA 2 architecture.[306]
AMD has a long history of litigation with former (and current) partner and x86 creatorIntel.[307][308][309]
In 1986, Intel broke an agreement it had with AMD to allow them to produce Intel's microchips forIBM; AMD filed forarbitration in 1987 and the arbitrator decided in AMD's favor in 1992. Intel disputed this, and the case ended up in theSupreme Court of California. In 1994, that court upheld the arbitrator's decision and awarded damages for breach of contract.
In 1990, Intel brought a copyright infringement action alleging illegal use of its 287 microcode. The case ended in 1994 with a jury finding for AMD and its right to use Intel's microcode in its microprocessors through the 486 generation.
In 1997, Intel filed suit against AMD andCyrix Corp. for misuse of the termMMX. AMD and Intel settled, with AMD acknowledging MMX as a trademark owned by Intel, and with Intel granting AMD rights to market the AMD K6 MMX processor.
In 2005, following an investigation, the Japan Federal Trade Commission found Intel guilty of a number of violations. On June 27, 2005, AMD won anantitrust suit against Intel in Japan, and on the same day, AMD filed a broad antitrust complaint against Intel in the U.S. Federal District Court inDelaware. The complaint alleges systematic use of secret rebates, special discounts, threats, and other means used by Intel to lock AMD processors out of the global market. Since the start of this action, the court has issuedsubpoenas to major computer manufacturers includingAcer,Dell,Lenovo,HP andToshiba.
In November 2009, Intel agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion and renew a five-year patent cross-licensing agreement as part of a deal to settle all outstanding legal disputes between them.[310]
On August 31, 2011, in Austin, Texas, AMD achieved aGuinness World Record for the "Highest frequency of a computer processor": 8.429 GHz.[311] The company ran an 8-core FX-8150 processor with only one active module (two cores), and cooled with liquid helium.[312] The previous record was 8.308 GHz, with an Intel Celeron 352 (one core).
On November 1, 2011, geek.com reported that Andre Yang, anoverclocker from Taiwan, used an FX-8150 to set another record: 8.461 GHz.[313]
On November 19, 2012, Andre Yang used an FX-8350 to set another record: 8.794 GHz.[314]
In its 2022 report, AMD stated that it aimed to embed environmental sustainability across its business, promote safe and responsible workplaces in its global supply chain and advance stronger communities.[329]
In 2022, AMD achieved a 19 percent reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions compared to 2020. Based on AMD calculations that are third-party verified (limited level assurance).[330]
In February 2024, AMD was a Diamond sponsor for the World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival (WAICF).[338]
AMD was a Platinum sponsor for the HPE Discover 2024, an event hosted byHewlett Packard Enterprise to showcase technology for government and business customers. The event was held from 17 to 20 June 2024 in Las Vegas.[339][340]
^The other founding members wereEd Turney, John Carey, Sven Simonsen,Jack Gifford and three members from Gifford's team: Frank Botte, Jim Giles, and Larry Stenger.
^"The Information Technology 100: 90: ATI Technologies".BusinessWeek. 2005. Archived fromthe original on December 11, 2005. RetrievedAugust 19, 2014.The company was incorporated in August 1985 as Array Technology Inc. and changed its name to Array Technologies Inc. in September 1985. Further, it changed its name to ATI Technologies Inc. in December 1985.
^Maximum Speed AMD FX Processor Takes Guinness World Record(video), September 12, 2011,archived from the original on November 22, 2021, retrievedNovember 7, 2012 – via YouTube During the video, cooling transitions from air to water to liquid nitrogen and finally to liquid helium.
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