AMD's legendary K5, its first independently-designed processor, is being removed from the Linux kernel — 4.3-million-transistor chip gets the axe because it lacks Time Stamp Counter (TSC) support, making it a coding burden

AMD's first independently-designed processor, the K5, is being removed from Linux kernel support due to its lack of Time Stamp Counter (TSC) support. The 4.3-million-transistor chip, known for its RISC-based internal architecture, is considered a burden for developers to maintain in the kernel. Despite its historical significance as AMD's inaugural x86 processor, the K5 faced challenges with late arrival and underwhelming performance compared to Intel's offerings. This retirement follows a trend of older processor lines, including the Intel i486 and AMD Elan SoCs, being phased out of Linux support in kernel version 7.2.