X-bit labs

AMD Athlon 64 Revision F to Support DDR2 in 2006.

Category: CPU

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/30/2005 | 08:46 PM ]

Advanced Micro Devices recently confirmed its commitment to DDR2 memory, whereas some web-sites revealed particular plans for the technology. Apparently, the first processors from with AMD with DDR2 support will be out next year and will be designed to fit into new Socket M2.

AMD to Support DDR2 For Sure – AMD, Sources

“AMD has stated that we will support DDR2 and we haven’t changed that position,” an AMD spokesman said commenting the rumour about possible skip of DDR2 by Advanced Micro Devices.

The first AMD microprocessors to support DDR2 SDRAM will be dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 chips in the second quarter of 2006, according to an article from PC Perspective web-site, which also published some slides from a presentation presumably by AMD to illustrate DDR2 plans of the chipmaker.

AMD Athlon 64 processors with DDR2 support are expected to be designed for Socket M2 infrastructure. According to some reports, the Socket M2 is a 940-pin socket incompatible with current Socket 940 designs. Still, there are rumours that Socket M2 is a 1207-pin mechanism. AMD does not usually comment on speculations.

Socket M2 processors are projected have similar, or slightly higher, thermal design power (TDP) compared to their predecessors: the top-of-the-range AMD Athlon 64 FX will have 125W TDP, single-core chips will have 104W TDP and dual-core processors will have 110W TDP, according to a document presumably by Advanced Micro Devices. The forthcoming Socket M2 mainboards are claimed to require support up to 95A current, up from today’s 80A.

Socket M2 to Bring Pacifica, Presidio

The Socket M2 is set to be introduced across the range of AMD desktop microprocessors, including performance, mainstream and value chips, in the first half of 2006. The chips that will be intended for the Socket M2 infrastructure are currently known under Windsor, Orleans and Manila code-names. It is known that all of such central processing units are to be produced using 90nm silicon-on-insulator fabrication process.

The Windsor is a high-end core for AMD that is likely to be used on premier AMD Athlon 64 FX and AMD Athlon 64 chips. The product will sport two processing engines, dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM controller, as well as security and virtualization capabilities code-named Presidio and Pacifica, respectively. The Orleans – a chip expected to power AMD’s mainstream Athlon 64 products – will also sport dual-channel DDR2 memory controller in addition to security and virtualization capabilities. The Manila is a future incarnation of AMD Sempron processor: it is unlikely to support advanced features like Presidio and Pacifica, but is claimed to have dual-channel DDR2 memory controller.

Clock-speeds, cache sizes and other peculiarities of the mentioned microprocessors are not known.