[wizzard0003]

Reatailers beat AMD to Phenom II launch
By Agam Shah , IDG News Service , 12/24/2008

Online retailers are taking orders for Advanced Micro Devices' upcoming Phenom II processors, leaking chip details ahead of the company's processor announcement plans for early January.

AMD's Phenom II X4 940 quad-core processor, which runs at 3GHz, is being sold for US$304 by online computer parts retailer Computers4Sure. The chip is being priced as high as $373 by a Canada-based online retailer, A-Power Computer Online.

Source: http://www.networkwo...-to-phenom.html

Links below to the product pages...

Computers4Sure
http://www.computers...;info=Tech#tabs

A-Power Computer Online
http://a-power.com/product-7816-0-1

They'll come down some after the official release I'm sure...

wizzard0003

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[.aT]

I'd like to see the prices hit here, as soon as possible -->

[wizzard0003]

Finally found a picture of an actual AM3 Socket... Seems that an AM2/AM2+
chip should be able to drop right in...

The image on the left is AM2/AM2+ cropped from a Newegg image of my
Foxconn A7DA-S...

The image on the right is AM3 cropped from here: http://www.xtremesys...mp;postcount=20



The only difference seems to be the "Extra" pin hole (red arrow) on the AM3
socket... From what I'm hearing, future AM3 chips will be DDR3 ONLY and will
have that extra pin to keep them from being placed in AM2/AM2+ sockets...

This is all very curious though to say the least...

wizzard0003

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Edit:
Correction... You're right, dostov...

Seems the spacing is different also between the blocked holes on the right side...

On the AM2/AM2+ there seems to be nine pin holes between the top block and
the bottom block... On the AM3 there are only eight...

Also, the top block on the left is ten pin holes down from the top on the AM2/AM2+
while the AM3 is only nine...

So this conferms that AM2/AM2+ will NOT fit in AM3 sockets...

So if you plan to upgrade to an AM3 DDR3 MB in the future, you will need to get
an AM3 model chip...

[.aT]

[3isvc]

So if the sockets pins dont line up, Then how is it that some of the Current AM2+ motherboards are being listed as being able to take a AM3 CPU?

[amek932x]

quote name='.aT' date='Dec 26 2008, 02:04 PM' post='53659']

[/quote]

[amek932x]

So if the sockets pins dont line up, Then how is it that some of the Current AM2+ motherboards are being listed as being able to take a AM3 CPU?

yeah...good question ...
i really wanna know about this one too

[.aT]

Hey, amek! Did you notice the scientist dude in the pic looks like Peter Falk?




NOTE: Although not confirmed, I believe that if Peter Falk had his private eye practice today, all the computers
in his office would be AMD and he would most definitely be a regular contributing member of TRP.

[amek932x]

Hey, amek! Did you notice the scientist dude in the pic looks like Peter Falk?

nope...hahaha

[wizzard0003]

So if the sockets pins dont line up, Then how is it that some of the Current AM2+ motherboards are being listed as being able to take a AM3 CPU?

Because, as stated earlier, socket AM2/AM2+ have 940 pins and AM3 has 938 pins...

By shifting those blocks on the socket, the two extra pins of the socket AM2/AM2+
are blocked, ie; no hole for the extra pins... AM3 does not have this problem as it
is already missing those pins...

AM2/AM2+ on left, AM3 (engineering sample I believe) on right...

(From: http://www.hardforum...d.php?t=1376703 )



wizzard0003

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[3isvc]

Gotcha, makes sense, my bad lol.

[wizzard0003]

Gotcha, makes sense, my bad lol.

Not "Bad" cv...

That's what these forums are all about... Asking questions...

That's how we all learn...

wizzard0003

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[3isvc]

Oh i know, i was just joking around.

[.aT]

What's with all this "joking around?!?"

Why can't everyone here be as serious as me? I just don't get it.

[pandaz3]

I don't see the extra corner pin on the AM3 CPU to correspond with the extra hole in the AM3 socket.. Not that you have to have it I guess

[wizzard0003]

I don't see the extra corner pin on the AM3 CPU to correspond with the extra hole in the AM3 socket.. Not that you have to have it I guess

As I said earlier, that may be for "Future" AM3 CPU's so that they
ONLY fit AM3 sockets and can not be installed in AM2/AM2+ socketed
DDR2 MB's (just speculating... )

The latest roadmap only covers to Qtr3 2009 so we have no idea what
will happen after that... There may be a DDR3 ONLY AM3 chip to come...

All of the AM3 chips available in the short term have both DDR2 and DDR3
memory controllers and are backwards compatable with AM2/AM2+ boards/sockets...

If they had that corner pin they wouldn't fit current AM2/AM2+ socketed boards...

Again, just speculationg... There may be a completely different reason for that extra
hole in the AM3 socket...

wizzard0003

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[amek932x]

What's with all this "joking around?!?"

Why can't everyone here be as serious as me? I just don't get it.

you're just too serious @man...

[amek932x]

As I said earlier, that may be for "Future" AM3 CPU's so that they
ONLY fit AM3 sockets and can not be installed in AM2/AM2+ socketed
DDR2 MB's (just speculating... )

The latest roadmap only covers to Qtr3 2009 so we have no idea what
will happen after that... There may be a DDR3 ONLY AM3 chip to come...

All of the AM3 chips available in the short term have both DDR2 and DDR3
memory controllers and are backwards compatable with AM2/AM2+ boards/sockets...

If they had that corner pin they wouldn't fit current AM2/AM2+ socketed boards...

Again, just speculationg... There may be a completely different reason for that extra
hole in the AM3 socket...

wizzard0003

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so it can be also the end of DDR2..as intel already use DDR3 ,...am i right???

[wizzard0003]

so it can be also the end of DDR2..as intel already use DDR3 ,...am i right???

Exactly...

When AMD decides to make chips with ONLY DDR3 memory controllers
they MAY add that corner pin to keep DDR3 ONLY chips from fitting in
DDR2 AM2/AM2+ sockets...

wizzard0003

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[amek932x]

Exactly...

When AMD decides to make chips with ONLY DDR3 memory controllers
they MAY add that corner pin to keep DDR3 ONLY chips from fitting in
AM2/AM2+ sockets...

wizzard0003

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...and i hope the DDR3 RAM module will getting really cheap at that time.

good info Wizz..
thanks