# AMD tried to crush the 'megahertz myth' 25 years ago today, debuting its Performance Rating system

> A quarter century ago today, AMD launched its AMD Athlon XP processor family. These were highly performant processors based on the firm’s latest Palomino core, but ran at lower raw clock speeds than Intel rivals.

- **Source:** [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-tried-to-crush-the-megahertz-myth-25-years-ago-today-debuting-its-performance-rating-system-athlon-xp-chips-introduced-the-scheme-which-endured-until-intel-lost-its-clock-speed-advantage-with-pentium-m?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6ac8db4e94a7b59061e907f2)
- **Published:** 2026-10-09
- **Category:** Computers & IT
- **Tags:** #amd #intel
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6ac8db4e94a7b59061e907f2

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