Although it was available during the last week of December, the 800MHz variant of AMD's Athlon processor was officially launched today. The release of the Athlon 800MHz processor brings AMD back on par with Intel, which released an 800MHz Pentium III a few weeks ago, clinching the processor lead through the New Year.
"The AMD Athlon processor has been well received since its introduction in June, and we expect that demand for the processor will continue to remain strong," said AMD VP of marketing Dana Krelle. "The 800MHz is simply the next step in the evolution of our award-winning AMD Athlon processor."
Compaq, IBM, and CyberMax announced plans to introduce desktop computer systems with the 800MHz Athlon this morning as well. The 800MHz Athlon is available immediately from a number of OEM systems integrators and retailers for US$849 in quantities of 1,000.