By far, the most powerful Socket 7 processor is the AMD K-6 III. At 256 KB, its L2 cache is twice the size of the K6-2+. AMD withdrew the 500 MHz version immediately after its official launch - we even returned our sample here at Tom's Hardware. In performance terms, the K-6 III/500 walked all over the Intel Pentium II/450. The number of transistors was now 21.3 million and the maximum thermal dissipation was 29.5 W.

Highest socket 7 performance: AMD K6-III/450 with 256 KB integrated L2 cache.

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