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AMD processors have, over the last few years, managed to earn themselves the reputation of being highly efficient yet economical compared to processors of a different make. AMD processors are manufactured by an American company, Advanced Micro Devices, commonly known as AMD. This electronics manufacturing company makes high-end semiconductors. Other than the central processing units (CPUs), AMD also manufactures graphic cards and graphics processing units (GPUs). AMD processors are the second most sold processors in the world. After unprecedented success in the processor market, the company is now foraying into different computer-related fields such as flash memory units.

AMD had a modest beginning in 1969, as a manufacturer of logic chips. 1975 saw the company move into RAM chip making. In the meantime, the company kept experimenting with processors. The AMD 29K, the AMD7910 and the AMD7911 are some of the earliest processors from this company. With time, the focus of the company shifted completely towards producing CPUs and graphic cards. The early x86 AMD processors like the Am386, the Am486 and the Am5x86 gained popularity because they were so economical. The K5, released on the global market in 1996, was the first AMD processor to be completely made in-house. K6 soon followed in 1997 and the first AMD processor to be launched under the name Athlon, the K7, was released in 1999. With the advent of the new century, AMD processors such as the Athlon XP and the Athlon XP featuring a 512KB L2 Cache made the brand globally renowned and able to reach far-off markets.

Today, AMD processors have become the leading brand of performance processors with their wide range of specialized processors meeting different computing needs. Specialized processors for gaming, for office use, for enhanced use of graphics or for home use are some of these. The Athlon 64 (K8), the Athlon 64 X2 and the Opteron are currently among the most popular AMD processor types. With intense competition in the processor market, AMD is working extensively to meet modern day computing challenges. As part of this effort, just recently the company has come up with new microprocessor architecture in the AMD K10, which succeeds the AMD K8 architecture for processors. The AMD desktop processor line, AMD Phenom, is based on the K10 architecture. From the looks of this top performance processor, the company can be expected to launch more Phenom models. The AMD Athlon XP 3200+, the Opteron 250 and the Opteron 865 are some of the other in–demand processor models.