Connector Compatibility Socket processors AM2, AM2+, AM3 and AM3+

Socket AM3+
Socket AM3+ is a continuation of Socket AM3, mechanically and electrically compatible with Socket AM3 (despite a little larger number contacts - 942, also in some sources may be called SocketAM3b). Designed to support new AMD processors based on the Zambezi core with the Bulldozer architecture (for example, AMD FX 8150). Socket AM3+ is compatible with Socket AM3 processors and coolers for Socket AM2/AM3.

Socket AM3
Socket AM3 is further development Socket AM2+, its main difference is the support of boards and processors with this type of DDR3 memory connector. Socket AM3 processors have a memory controller that supports both DDR2 and DDR3, so they can operate in motherboards ah Socket AM2+ (processor compatibility must be checked on the CPU Support List on the motherboard manufacturer’s website), but the opposite situation is impossible, Socket AM2 and Socket AM2+ processors do not work in Socket AM3 boards.

Socket AM3 motherboards support DDR3 RAM with frequencies from 800 to 1333 MHz (including ECC). With currently produced Socket AM3 processors, memory type PC10600 will operate at a nominal frequency of 1333 MHz only if one module is installed per channel, and when two modules are installed on each channel of the memory controller (when a total of three or four memory modules are installed), their frequency is forced down to 1066 MHz. Registered memory is not supported; ECC (non-Registered) memory is only supported by Phenom II processors for this socket. The memory architecture is dual-channel, so to achieve optimal performance it is necessary to install two or four (preferably identical in pairs) memory modules in accordance with the instructions for the motherboard.

Socket AM2+
Socket AM2+ is an upgraded version of Socket AM2. The differences are support for HyperTransport 3.0 technology with frequencies up to 2.6 GHz and improved power circuits.
Basically, all Socket AM2 processors work great in all Socket AM2+ motherboards (there are exceptions due to the individual technical features of some motherboards). Socket AM2 motherboards do not all support Socket AM2+ processors (compatibility in each specific case must be checked on the motherboard manufacturer's website), secondly, reducing the HyperTransport frequency leads to a noticeable drop in processor performance compared to motherboards Socket boards AM2+. Also when using Phenom processors Socket AM2+ boards allow you to use DDR2 RAM (for example, PC-8500) at the rated frequency without overclocking (when installing one module per channel).

At the end of spring of this year, AMD took another step towards the development of its processors, announcing new solutions that should provide support for DDR2 memory.

At the end of spring of this year, AMD took another step towards the development of its processors, announcing new solutions that should provide support for DDR2 memory. Many online and offline publications called this update to the CPU line evolutionary, not revolutionary, because no changes were made to the architecture.

A new memory controller (albeit with intentions of supporting DDR2-1066), support for virtualization technology (only for Athlon 64) and improved thermal performance of the processors themselves are not at all good reasons to declare a huge leap forward. It is very encouraging that AMD admits this without unnecessary controversy. This is confirmed at least by the fact that the rating calculation system has remained unchanged, and chips for Socket 939 and Socket AM2 are marked in this regard in the same way, that is, one rating corresponds to one frequency and one second-level cache size, and it does not matter for which socket chip.

Since the announcement of the new CPUs, many users have been wondering whether they will be able to show any significant performance increase compared to the previous generation, and whether they will be able to withstand the solutions Intel generation next. If we can partially answer the first question further, then the answer to the second will have to wait until we conduct comprehensive testing of Intel Core2Duo in our test laboratory.

Until now, most publications have tested the fastest, and, accordingly, the most expensive CPUs from AMD and Intel. In this article, on the contrary, we will try to figure out what the low-end for Socket AM2 is. Especially for this purpose, we have at our disposal the slowest of the presented chips, since they are likely to be of greatest interest to most consumers. In our opinion, there are two reasons for this: firstly, low price, and, secondly, their overclocking potential may turn out to be the best of the entire family.

Socket AM2: what's new and cheap?

Many people know that AMD has decided to replace all the processor sockets it supports, namely Socket 754 and Socket 939, with a single one – Socket AM2. There are several advantages to this. So, for example, now you don’t have to rack your brain about what to buy – a computer based on the cheaper Socket 754 or with the more expensive, productive and promising (in terms of supporting newer processors) Socket 939.

Under Socket AM2 the entire the lineup chips - from budget Sempron to very expensive Athlon 64 FX. In total, almost 30 (!) varieties of new CPUs were released. However, no more than half can be classified as budget and mainstream versions. In particular, these are all Sempron and Athlon 64 models. We will consider the youngest of them today in our article. Let's summarize their characteristics in one table:

The table shows that although AMD announced that it would assign the same rating to processors with the same L2 cache size and frequency, for Sempron chips the transition to Socket AM2 still forced the company to change the rating. Thus, Sempron 2800+ and 3000+ for Socket AM2 have slightly lower performance in terms of frequency and cache size compared to their Socket 754 and Socket 939 counterparts. The difference is not significant, but it is still there and may cause some confusion in the future.

As for innovations, the main one is the new DDR2 memory controller. For all single core AMD processors it will be able to operate at a maximum speed of DDR2-667. DDR2-800 is given to all dual-core models, because two cores require more throughput, and they will be able to use available channel more effective.

In addition, the heat dissipation ratings have been reduced for the new Athlon 64. If previously they were 89 W, now the TDP does not exceed 62 W. As for the so-called “energy efficient” models with a 35 W thermal package, these are more expensive versions that are not included in our review.

By the way, what’s interesting is that initially, when the Socket AM2 platform was announced, there was absolutely no mention of the Athlon 64 3000+ and Sempron 2800+. Nevertheless, such a model went on sale and also came to us for testing. We must assume that the Athlon 64 3200+ was also released. Both of the above-mentioned processors differ from the officially announced Athlon 64 3500+ only in clock frequency: the first one is 1.8 GHz, and the second one is 2.0 GHz.

It should also be added that very soon the younger models described in this article will be discontinued. This has already been officially announced. Of course, they will not disappear from sale immediately and will be available for about another year and a half. And there is no point in removing these processors right away. Due to their low cost, they should provide the most smooth transition to a new platform.

Processors

Despite the fact that the number of pins on the Socket AM2 connector corresponds to their number in Socket 940, they (the connectors) are not compatible with each other. The reason for this has also been known for a long time - the use of different memory controllers in processors.

However, apart from changing the stepping and controller, no more fundamental changes were made to the chip structure. This means that, theoretically, All K8 processor chipsets released to date are compatible with the new CPUs. Another thing is that no one will use outdated chipsets to release new motherboards.

Some changes were also made to the mount and the shape of the frame on which the cooler is attached. Now she's screwed to printed circuit board not with two bolts, as before, but with four. It is also very pleasing that all previous cooler models that had a standard mount are compatible with the new one.

Moreover, if you look at the standard box fan, it hasn't changed much either. As you can see from the picture, it can be perfectly installed on any board with a Socket 754, 939 or AM2 connector. Looking ahead, let's say that in our tests we used the Glacialtech 7300 cooler, which does not say a word about Socket AM2 support. And it seemed like nothing - the processor did not overheat and was even able to overclock.

By the way, the design of boxed versions of processors has also undergone some changes. The box is now smaller in size, although the contents remain the same: processor, user manual, case sticker and cooler.

Chipsets

We noted a little higher that, formally, any chipset can be suitable for new AMD processors. In this regard, only NVIDIA presented new versions system logic for Socket AM2. As for other manufacturers, they did not update their lines, and companies involved in the production of motherboards announced models based on chipsets that had been available for a long time.

And NVIDIA, in fact, has made a purely cosmetic upgrade to its line of chipsets. According to the latest data, it occupies a leading position in the system logic market for AMD chips, therefore, apparently, it has become almost a matter of prestige for NVIDIA to present new line chipsets simultaneously with the release of new processors. It is worth noting that not just one of the long-released chipsets was updated, but all four discrete solutions sold under the nForce4 brand. As for integrated chipsets, NVIDIA did not touch them, and based on the GeForce 6100 and 6150 introduced last fall, new boards with support for Socket AM2 were released.

Returning to the new family of chipsets from NVIDIA, called nForce 500, a total of four modifications were released, positioned as follows:

Of all the above, we are most interested in the nForce 570 Ultra and nForce 550. Based on these chipsets, the most motherboards will be sold, since they (the chipsets) offer very good functionality at a very reasonable price. So, let's look at their characteristics:

What can we observe as a result? The changes affected only the functionality of the peripherals, such as built-in sound, network card and SATA and PATA controllers. nForce 550 – a kind of modernized nForce4 4x with a reduced number of IDE channels (more than two hard drives or other devices with this interface can no longer be connected), as well as with improved built-in sound, which is now HD Audio instead of AC’97.

For the nForce 570 Ultra, only the ability to install a second gigabit network card, as well as up to six SATA devices, is added. The latter allows you to create up to two RAID level 5 arrays, which for some users may be a decisive factor when choosing a motherboard. As for FirstPacket technology, it is unlikely to have any serious impact on performance. For uninformed readers, let us remind you that its essence is to optimize the order of packet transmission over local network. This can be useful during online games, where the lowest possible response time (ping) is important.

As for the LinkBoost technologies (overclocking the PCI Express bus) and SLI (combining several video cards into one array), they were added to older models of nForce 500 series chipsets, which are not included in our review.

In a very difficult situation in 2006, AMD announced a socket for installing an AM2 CPU. Processors for sockets 754 and 939 at that time had completely exhausted themselves and could no longer show a sufficient level of performance. As a result, it was necessary to offer something new with higher performance to provide a worthy response to the eternal competitor in the person of Intel Corporation.

How and why did this computing platform appear?

In 2006 on the market personal computers sales of a new type have started random access memory, which is called DDR2. The sockets that existed at that time for installing AMD CPUs 754 and 939 were focused on using the outdated, but most common type of RAM - DDR.

As a result, the last socket was redesigned and became known as AM2. Processors for this socket received a 30% increase in performance compared to their predecessors. The main factor that allowed for such an increase in performance was the increased RAM bandwidth.

Sockets up to AM2. Subsequent processor sockets

As noted earlier, the predecessors for this processor socket can be considered sockets 754 and 939. Moreover, from the point of view of organizing the functioning of RAM, it was the second of them that was closer to the hero of this review, which also had a 2-channel RAM controller. But also server socket The 940 can be considered the predecessor of the AM2. The processors in this case had an identical organization of the RAM subsystem and a similar number of contacts, which was equal to 940 pieces.

In one form or another, AM2 existed until 2009. At this time, instead of him and him updated version in the form of AM2+, a new processor socket AM3 was released, the key innovation of which was the use of a new modification of RAM - DDR3. AM2 and AM3 are physically compatible with each other. Moreover, even the AM2+ CPU can be installed in AM3. But the reverse use of the CPU is unacceptable due to the incompatibility of microprocessor RAM controllers.

Models of central processors for AM2

Socket AM2 was aimed at the following segments of the PC market:

• The products of the Septron line made it possible to assemble budget system units. Such CPUs had only one computing module and a two-level cache. Technologically, these semiconductor solutions were produced at 90 nm (the CPU frequency range was limited to 1.6-2.2 GHz) and 65 nm (1.9-2.3 GHz). These chips had a very, very affordable cost and an acceptable level of performance for solving office tasks, and it is for these two reasons that they could often be found in the budget PC segment.
• The mid-segment solutions included all Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 X2 CPUs. The level of performance in this case was ensured by increasing the size of the cache memory, higher clock frequencies and even the presence of 2 computing modules at once (processors with the X2 prefix).

• The most productive products on this platform were the Phenom family of chips. They could include 2, 3 or even 4 computing units. Also, the cache memory size has been significantly increased.
• To create servers entry level Socket AM2 was targeted. Opteron family processors could also be installed in it. They were available in 2 modifications: with 2 computing modules (based on the Athlon 64 X2 CPU and labeled 12XX) and with 4 cores (in this case, Phenom chips acted as a prototype, and such products were already designated 135X).

Chipsets for this platform

AMD AM2 processors could be used in combination with motherboards based on the following chipsets from AMD:

• The maximum level of functionality was provided by the 790FX. It allowed you to connect 4 video cards at once in 8X mode or 2 in 16X mode.
• The niche of mid-level products was occupied by 780E, 785E and 790X/GX. They allowed you to install 2 graphics accelerator in 8X mode or 1 in 16X mode. Also, solutions based on the 790GX were equipped with a built-in Radeon 3100 video adapter.
• Even lower one step in terms of functionality were solutions based on the 785G, 785G/V and 770. They allowed the use of only 1 discrete graphics accelerator.

RAM and its controller

The AM2 socket was designed to install the newest DDR2 modules at that time. Processors, as noted earlier, received an additional 30% performance due to this important innovation. As with the 940, the RAM controller was integrated into the central processor. This engineering approach allows for increased performance with the RAM subsystem, but limits the number of types of RAM modules supported by the CPU.

The subsequent appearance of new modifications of the modules leads to the fact that the architecture of the RAM controller needs to be redesigned. It is for this reason that the intermediate solution AM2+ appeared between AM2 and AM3+. It did not have any fundamental differences from its predecessor, and the only difference was that support for DDR2-800 and DDR2-1066 RAM modules was added. In its pure form, AM2 could fully work with DDR2-400, DDR2-533 and DDR2-667. It is possible to install faster RAM modules in such a PC, but in this case their performance was automatically reduced to the DDR2-667 level, and there was no particular benefit from using faster RAM.

The current situation with this platform

Today Socket AM2 is completely obsolete. Processors and motherboards for this platform can still be found in new condition in warehouses. But it is not recommended to consider this socket as a basis even for assembling the most budget PC: the difference in price with the most affordable entry-level processor solutions of more recent sockets is insignificant, but the difference in terms of performance will be noticeable.

Therefore, such components can be used in cases where an AM2-based PC has failed and needs to be urgently restored at minimal cost.

Let's sum it up

Significant in 2006 for the world computer technology became the output connector for installing the AM2 CPU. In this case, the processors received a very significant increase in performance and made it possible to solve more complex problems. But now products based on this platform are outdated, and consider them as the basis for building a new system unit Not recommended.

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From Socket AM2 to Socket AM3: compatibility illustrations

Lexagon 03/19/2007 08:32 | print version | | archive

I can’t guarantee that in other countries the problem of gradually upgrading a computer is just as acute, but in our country, buyers often think about the further possibility of upgrading the desktop system they are purchasing. AMD has long been loved for its ability to use new processors in old motherboards, but after integrating the memory controller into the processor core, ensuring such continuity has become more difficult.

The transition from Socket AM2 to Socket AM2+ was supposed to calm those AMD supporters who were afraid of the inevitable comprehensive computer upgrade. As is known, Socket AM2+ processors belonging to the K8L (K10) generation will be compatible with existing motherboards equipped with Socket AM2 connectors. You will only have to sacrifice support for the HyperTransport 3.0 bus, but continuity of platforms always requires some sacrifices, and this is not the worst of them. In addition, Socket AM2+ processors in motherboards with a Socket AM2 connector will not be able to manage their power supply as flexibly as is provided for them in “native” motherboards.

Socket AM2 processors will work in motherboards with Socket AM2+ connector, this is quite natural. Some uncertainty existed only regarding the compatibility of processors and motherboards with the Socket AM3 connector and previous platforms. Until now, it was believed that Socket AM3 processors would only be compatible with motherboards with Socket AM2+ and Socket AM3 connectors. Motherboards with a Socket AM3 socket will not be able to accept Socket AM2 and Socket AM2+ processors, since they do not support DDR-3 memory.

French colleagues from the site Hardware.fr obtained a very informative illustration at CeBIT 2007 that allows you to understand how processors and motherboards AMD three generations will get along together.

Now we can make sure that Socket AM3 processors will work in older motherboards with Socket AM2+ and even Socket AM2, since the built-in memory controller of these processors supports DDR-2. However, only Socket AM3 processors can be installed in a motherboard with a Socket AM3 socket. For ease of perception, we have made a special “compatibility matrix”:

Well, fans of step-by-step upgrades can rejoice - only two of the nine combinations do not provide compatibility. For our time, a very good result.