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Patrick Schmid 13 Jan 2006 00:37 Westlake Village (CA) - While Intel is busy bringing its next processor generation, based on the Merom core, up to speed, AMD is adding the final touches to its DDR2-based Socket M2 Athlon 64 platform, TG Daily has learned. AMD is preparing 12 M2 processors for Q2 launch, spanning the Athlon 64, X2, FX and Sempron series of CPUs. Part of the launch will be an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and an Athlon 64 FX-62 chip. Looking at processor roadmap of the next 12 months, we have had a pretty good idea what we can expect from Intel for quite some time now. AMD is a different story, however, as the Texans do not feel the need to reveal much of their future product line-up as long as Intel's CPUs are kept at a safe distance, at least in terms of performance and heat generation. here was little we knew about the upcoming Socket M2 platform, AMD's entry into the DDR2 memory arena - until now. Sources told us that not just Intel is preparing an armada of new processors, but also AMD will be padding the launch of the M2 platform with a dozen processors - including Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 and Sempron - available at launch sometime in Q2 of this year. All Socket M2 processors will be based on a common DDR2 memory controller that is validated for 333 MHz operation (DDR2-667), with only the cache size and clock speed differentiating the individual processors. There will be 2 x 1 MB or 2 x 512 KB L2 cache for the dual cores, 512 KB L2 cache for the single core Athlon 64 models and 256 KB for the Sempron series. While Intel's chipset specifications officially support 4 clock CAS latencies for DDR2-667 memory only, there is some headroom for AMD to optimize the memory interface for CAS 3. This circumstance could become significant, as the performance difference between the current Socket 939 processors and their upcoming Socket M2 counterparts will be rather small, according to sources. The Socket M2 launch will be flanked by at least four Athlon 64 X2 models, which are based on the 90 nm Windsor core. These processors will be running the clock speeds we are familiar with today. However, AMD will introduce an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ clocked at 2.6 GHz and equipped with 1x 1 MB L2 cache. Frequent readers of TG Daily and Tom's Hardware Guide may now notice that these are the exact specifications of the Athlon 64 FX-60 that recently was launched. This FX-60 processor will be replaced by a 2.8 GHz FX-62 at M2 launch. The single core Athlon 64 family will be slimmed down to just three models integrating the 90 nm Orleans core. The Athlon 64 4000+ will be running at 2.6 GHz, as it comes with 512 KB L2 cache only (today's 4000+ is a 1 MB part). The 3800+ runs at 2.4 GHz; the Athlon 64 3500+ will be the entry level chip at 2.2 GHz. Both the Athlon 64 and the Athlon 64 X2 will support AMD's virtualization technology known as "Pacifica." Last but not least, the Sempron family will consist of four members at the time of M2 launch. All Sempron processors are based on the 90 nm Manila core and carry only 256 KB L2, but they do come with AMD's dual channel DDR2-667 interface. This potentially could make Sempron the clearly better choice when compared to Intel's Celeron. The Sempron models 3500+, 3400+, 3200+ and 3000+ will run at 2.2, 2.0, 1.8 and 1.6 GHz, respectively. 3600+ and 3800+ models 2.4 and 2.6 GHz apparently are available already and could be added to the line-up, as soon as Intel speeds up the Celeron family. http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/01/13/amd_m2_platform_launch/
Isn’t “Q2 launch” too early?
Also have you noticed that the last processor released broke the name convention, all FX were single core and all X2 double core, so why the Athlon 64 FX-60 have two cores, I would think it should be called Athlon 64 X2 4800+. Posts: 1843 | From: Rio de Janeiro | Registered: Jan 2004
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Aren’t the AM2 940 pins? Better keep an eye about that too.
If I got it right, there wont be no major improvements in MHZ, so this is ridiculous, they will make everything of today obsolete for nothing.
Posts: 1843 | From: Rio de Janeiro | Registered: Jan 2004
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JESUS!!!...Ive had my"new" 3700 sandy 2 weeks now and its already out of date....I cannot afford to play the catch up game no more
-------------------- Asus Vintage(p4s800-mx) P4 2.8HT Northwood 512 Corsair value select Ati 9600 xt (256 mb) 80 gig maxtor XP pro Sp2 Posts: 1003 | From: uk | Registered: Jun 2003
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You have a small fortune there; you have painstakingly reviewed it inside out and it is well documented; just keep what you need for now and start parting with the surplus.
Posts: 1843 | From: Rio de Janeiro | Registered: Jan 2004
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What's realy amazing bout the change is that the price on the fx60 is unreal. Local Fry's is running a special, you buy the fx for $1300 and they give you a new ASUS A8N32-SLI for free. That's a $250 dollar board. And in a little over 3 months, anyboby interested in a high end system would laugh at it rather then drool over it.
I wonder how that daughter card for the asrock will work, and what it will cost. Cause right now, that looks like it might be the best way to go.
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I jumped in the amd64 game before I should have and I paid for it....
I now have a great system with a 146 opty... It will be quite a while before I even think about m2 seriously. It took 'em what 6 - 7 cores to get some that oc well! Just think how many it might take the M2.
And whats worse is that my old 1700+ at 2.2ghz gets more rosetta credit than any of my amd64 or intel boxen!
-------------------- Asus P5Q | e8400 | OCZ 2gb x2 | HD 3850 | Zalmen 750w PSU | Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme | Windows 7 beta Posts: 1222 | From: Mobile, AL | Registered: Feb 2003
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And I havn't even got to 64 bit yet Maybe I will hang on even longer and might get myself a decent processor & motherboard for a lot cheaper than I thought
-------------------- Posts: 752 | From: Broken Hill ( The accessible Outback ) , Australia | Registered: Mar 2004
Mid-year, not spring By Charlie Demerjian: Saturday 28 January 2006, 07:11 WORD HAS IT that the pretty pretty socket M2 from AMD will be a little late. How late? Well we were hearing March, then March/April, AKA late Q1/early Q1. That was the way it would stay for months and months. It looked like a Cebit rollout, availability starting soon after. Then all of a sudden, we heard September, a big oopsie in the chips world, a 2Q slip. That was the story for about a week, late Q3. Soon after, a bunch more people said it was not late Q3, but early Q3, July or so to be exact. Moral of the story, it is looking an awful lot like a 1Q slip, and a mid-year launch. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29320Posts: 1843 | From: Rio de Janeiro | Registered: Jan 2004
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Socket AM2- M2 motherboards to cost $5 to $10 more
Change is as good as a rest By Fuad Abazovic: Wednesday 01 February 2006, 14:03 THE AMD socket M2/AM2 based motherboards aren't likely to cost very much more than existing sockets. AMD advised its motherboard parners that the new motherboards will cost them only a little bit more. Socket vendors can make those sockets with small tooling changes to existing Socket 939 and should keep the cost to N almost equivalent level. Socket AM2/M2 boards will use DDR 2 DIMM sockets only, so you can say goodbye to DDR 1 memory. DDR2 sockets have been around for more than two years now, thanks mainly to Intel of course and their cost is already equal to DDR1 sockets. No change here. The maximum thermal dissipation will remain very close to existing socket 939 CPUs but AMD will introduce a new improved mounting for the new heatsinks. The improved mounting uses four holes instead of two. We don't know whether you'll be able to use the old Athlon 64 coolers for these new boards or not. Something tells me that you should be able to do it. All these factors will drive the cost of M2 or AM2 boards to be five to ten dollars higher than socket 939 or 754 boards. After some time, this cost should drop but at the beginning it will be a little bit more expensive to make them. They are still scheduled for Q2 launch, so I suspect that you should see many of them at Computex in June and some previews at CeBIT next month. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29414Posts: 1843 | From: Rio de Janeiro | Registered: Jan 2004
Looks like it's going to mean all new hsf's for those of us aircooling. And for those of you into water or more extreme cooling, plan on at least new mounting brackets for the cpu block.
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Com'on AM4!![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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Maybe I will hang on even longer and might get myself a decent processor & motherboard for a lot cheaper than I thought ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
