While there will be no name change for "Thunderbird"-based Athlons coming out of Dresden and FAB 25, AMD will be marketing the newer Athlons with this tag line: "The AMD Athlon™ Processor with Performance-Enhancing Cache Memory". So if it's a T-bird you want, look for the sign… Though most Thunderbirds will be of the socket A design (and thus easily distinguished from their Athlon "Classic" brothers), we've learned that select OEMs will be releasing a slot A version. We hope AMD will employ some kind of marking scheme similar to their recent laser markings to discourage remarking by unscrupulous OEMs.
A race car driver would be nothing without a supporting pit crew. In much the same way, AMD's new Athlon would be crippled without a good foundation on which to rest.
There were initial doubts concerning the efficiency of AMD's design due in part to its youth and also because of their somewhat unshakable reputation as a provider of "value systems." However, after overcoming initial launch bumps such as power supply problems and GeForce compatibility, the Athlon has turned out to be AMD's most groundbreaking processor to date.
To make a long story short, the platform is very similar to what we have seen since the Athlon's introduction.
We asked VIA's own VP, Richard Brown, to tell us the differences between the KX133 and the KT133. He had this to say:
"The KT133 has the same architecture as the KX133; the only major difference is that it supports the new Socket A Athlon (Thunderbird) and Duron (Spitfire) processors while the current KX133 supports the current Slot A Athlon processor. As such, the KT133 is very stable and comes with the same high-end features as the KX133 such as its 200MHz FSB and support for PC133 Memory."