AMD K5

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18524C/0—Nov1996 AMD-K5 Processor Technical Reference Manual
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Overview
The AMD-K5™ processor brings superscalar RISC perfor-
mance to desktop systems running industry-standard x86 soft-
ware. The processor implements advanced design techniques
like instruction pre-decoding, single-cycle internal RISC opera-
tions, parallel execution units, out-of-order issue and comple-
tion, register renaming, data forwarding, and dynamic branch
prediction. The processor’s many test and debug features sup-
port fast, reliable designs for x86 desktop systems.
AMD’s development and support of the popular Am386
®
and
Am486
®
processors has given it a broad foundation of experi-
ence in the x86 architecture. The AMD-K5 processor’s binary
compatibility with DOS and Windows
®
-compatible software
running on the Pentium processor and all previous x86 proces-
sors has been established in extensive testing, using industry-
standard test tools. Compatibility and qualification testing has
also been provided by leading desktop-system manufacturers,
chip-set manufacturers, and the independent XXCAL testing
laboratory.
The result can be seen in the AMD-K5 processor’s perfor-
mance. This performance plus its compatibility with an
immense library of existing x86 software make the AMD-K5
processor a leading-edge solution for desktop systems.