AMD looks to standardise sockets after AM3+ and FM2

[Frakk]

http://hexus.net/tech/news/mainboard/45889-amd-looks-standardise-sockets-am3-fm2/

It looks like AMD are trying to make AM3+ and FM2 the standard for the future.

What that means is if true Steamroller CPU's and APU's will also run on AM3+ and FM2 platforms, and possibly beyond.....


If they can pull that off it's good news in a climate where having to upgrade the Motherboard every time you upgrade your chip is an unnecessary cost.

With AMD's road map for the foreseeable future being one new CPU / APU a year this would be very welcome.

 

[BeepBeep2]

What do you mean?
AM3+ is AMD's midrange-high end (though they can not compete) platform.
FM2 is AMD's entry-level+APU platform (with Athlon II + discrete or APU)

It is known for a month or two now that AM3+ and FM2 will stick around through Steamroller, though the future of AMD making midrange-enthusiast oriented CPUs (ie. AMD FX 8-cores, or large TDP chips in general) after Piledriver is up in the air. For example, they scrapped plans to replace the 990FX chipset hinting at the change of killing the platform in the future.

Honestly, 939 to AM3+ is essentially the same socket, there are not major differences...
939 - AM2: DDR2 support, added HyperTransport 2.0 vs 1.1

AM2 - AM2+: HyperTransport 3 support, redesigned 6-7 series chipsets, backwards compatible with microcode update, changes in power plane (CPU-NB/IMC recieves voltage separate from CPU Core Voltage)

AM2+ - AM3: DDR3 support, CPUs backwards compatible with AM2+ (dual DDR2/DDR3 mode controller) and AM2 with microcode update, same 700-series chipsets as AM2+, then minor 800-series chipset updates

AM3 - AM3+: More robust minimum requirements for power delivery, larger pin openings in socket, CPUs and motherboards backwards compatible with AM3 but not officially supported by AMD due to change in power requirements, internal pinout arrangement (pins that were formerly key pins now used), and size of new microcode...think back to why AM2+ CPUs were not supported on many AM2 boards, because the Option ROM already too large (BIOS chip capacity was full) to support every CPU and retain all features. AM3+ boards are required to have a larger BIOS chip for storing a larger flash ROM.


AMD users are very lucky people compared to Intel, which has made absolutely major changes in each new socket or made up new sockets for no apparent reason (ie. 1155 from 1156)

 

[Frakk]

I guess what they are saying is there will be no AM4 / FM3 sockets for Steamroller.

Those chips will be designed around current AM3+ / FM2 Sockets so they will drop right in, no problem.

Backwards and forwards compatibility does indeed already exists with AMD, i'm an example, i'm running an AM3 chip in an AM3+ socket and i have exactly the same functionality with it as if i was running a socket AM3 MOBO.

But it does not always work, Try running Bulldozer on any AM3 Motherboard, if you get lucky it will work just fine, the chances are it wont.

I guess they are trying to make it coherent, so that AM3 Athlon and Phenom chips run on the same Motherboard as Bulldozer and Piledriver run on, and now also Steamroller.

I bought my quite expensive AM3+ MOBO just 3 months ago, i don't need to do it again for Piledriver, and one year later i still don't need to for steamroller. <- that matters a lot to me, i have an upgrade path where all i need is the CPU for the 3 genarations above my current chip.

I think AMD recognise that matters to a lot of thier customers.

 

[EarthDog]

Backwards and forwards compatibility does indeed already exists with AMD, i'm an example, i'm running an AM3 chip in an AM3+ socket and i have exactly the same functionality with it as if i was running a socket AM3 MOBO.

But it does not always work, Try running Bulldozer and any AM3 Motherboard, if get lucky it will work just fine, the chances are it wont.

This isnt a surprise. That would make sense since you have a NEWER mobo with an older chip...and makes sense with a newer chip on older mobo as well...

That said, a lot of AM3 boards support BD fully with a proper bios.

 

[BeepBeep2]

This isnt a surprise. That would make sense since you have a NEWER mobo with an older chip...and makes sense with a newer chip on older mobo as well...

That said, a lot of AM3 boards support BD fully with a proper bios.

I don't think he read what I said.

Each socket AMD has had since 939 were either to modernize existing designs or make very minor updates.

To Frakk, like I said before...

Many AM3 CPUs (Phenom II X4, even models denoted with a 5, AM3) work fine on some AM2 boards that were released in 2006. Remember when AMD was claiming compatibility of AM2+ and AM3 with AM2 boards? ...but the amount of boards actually supporting CPUs was not nearly large enough? The problem here is the fact that every time AMD adds a CPU, that CPU must be added and correct microcode to run the CPU must be added to a BIOS, the reason why many boards did not support, because they did not have room to add to BIOSes which were already full.

So, AMD essentially told a lie, which made many people buy AM2 motherboards and Athlon 64 X2 in anticipation of what would be new Phenom parts instead of Conroe...then frustrated people immensely when they realized their board wouldn't support the new CPUs, that they should have gone to intel in the first place.

This time around, AMD decided to NOT officially support backwards compatibilty to avoid making that mistake again, despite potential logistical and physical compatibility between the socket types. However like EarthDog said there are boards that support BD fully with a BIOS update.

 

[EarthDog]

I don't think he read what I said.

This says it all...:

AM3+ is AMD's midrange-high end (though they can not compete) platform.
FM2 is AMD's entry-level+APU platform (with Athlon II + discrete or APU)

Just like Intel has s1155 for 'mainstream' and s2011 for 'enthusiast'.

 

[LiquidHard]

AMD users are very lucky people compared to Intel, which has made absolutely major changes in each new socket or made up new sockets for no apparent reason (ie. 1155 from 1156)

+1.

Beep2, I think Intel enthusiasts would argue newer platforms are faster by x%

Though I really what Intel has done for their branding. Theres also no denying Intels ipc performance relative to AMD.

For the record, Im a fanboy of both

 

[BeepBeep2]

This says it all...:

Just like Intel has s1155 for 'mainstream' and s2011 for 'enthusiast'.

Furthermore, fundamentally AM3+ is older than LGA 775

The difference between AM2 and AM3+ are only improved power planes and cosmetic changes to prevent use of incompatible CPUs with incompatible sockets. (DDR2 sockets vs DDR3 sockets)...

"AM" is a standard just like "FM" is now a standard. AMD makes only minor changes to their sockets and "AM" or "FM" does not denote the type of socket used as far as contacts...all AMD desktop sockets are FCPGA/ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) sockets, but intel are all LGA.

We've had one socket that was modified creatively to bring improvements while retaining the most compatibility possible, intel often said "lets add 400 pins", "lets add 1 pin and make it 100% incompatible" with their options.

 

[LiquidHard]

since we're on this topic,

1) any idea why amd still sticks to the pin procs when Intel had long gone on to LGA?

2) does the above affect performance in any way?

 

[BeepBeep2]

since we're on this topic,

1) any idea why amd still sticks to the pin procs when Intel had long gone on to LGA?

2) does the above affect performance in any way?

1. They like this package better...? Server CPUs are LGA.

2. No.