AMD's Socket AM2 to support Socket AM3 CPUs
But not vice versa, it seems
6th July 2006 09:55 GMT
AMD's Socket AM3 processor interconnect will be forwards compatible with Socket AM2, allowing today's AM2-based boards to host AM3-equipped CPUs, the chip maker has revealed. That said, AM3 mobos will not, apparently, accept AM2 processors.
So claims a DailyTech report, citing recent communications between AMD and its OEM customers.
As we have reported before, Socket AM3 is part of the DDR 3-supporting K8L architecture due H1 2008 and set to debut late 2007 in a dual-core chip, the codename of which remains unkown. This mysterious part will be followed by 'Greyhound', a 65nm quad-core Athlon 64 part - branded 'X4', presumably. The Athlon 64 FX version, due later in H1 2008, is codenamed 'Cadiz'.
The new archicture's integrated memory controller is believed to support both DDR 2 and DDR 3 - but not, AMD's OEM documentation states, on the same motherboard. K8L will also run on a HyperTransport 3 system bus. ®


Intel Core i7 I7-920 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz, 4x256kB, 4.8GT/s QPI, LGA 1336 Socket B)
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor (3.4GHz, 6MB L3 Cache, 4x512KB L2 Cache, 2000 MHz Bus, Socket AM3)
Asus P7P55D Motherboard (Intel Socket H LGA1156, P55 Express, ATX, 16GB DDR3)
Intel Core i5 750 Qaud Core Processor (2.66GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.5 GT/s Bus, Socket H LGA1156)
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G/SB710 Socket AM3 ATX Motherboard