Whats up with AM2

[p4h8ter]

Ive been looking at these AM2 processors. Whats up with them? Why were they made, and why do they include a wide range of setups?

 

[holyjunk]

Am2 is the new standard for amd. Am2 is the socket for the motherboard. It supports ddr2 memory and the old socket 939 did not.

 

[p4h8ter]

so thats the only difference, can i take an old socket 939 processor and put it in this board

 

[jimmymac]

different socket on an AM2 board so 939 wont fit, believe its 940 pin

 

[The_Other_One]

AM2 adds DDR2 support, right? I havn't really been keeping up on them, but I do know there's not a HUGE difference between the AM2 and 939...

 

[holyjunk]

AM2 adds DDR2 support, right? I havn't really been keeping up on them, but I do know there's not a HUGE difference between the AM2 and 939...

Right and right.

 

[fade2green514]

yea but be careful because sometimes AM2 doesnt run the memory at default clocks depending on the processor and memory modules in use.

 

[fruscai]

there are lots of am2 threads on cf, so check those out as well, but the main point that needs to be made, and the only thing you really need to worry about is this: if your buying a new pc, get am2, its the most upgradable and will allow quad-core (thats right people, google k8l, which is the name of the new 65nm processor that amd will be coming out with in 07) if your upgrading from an existing 939 system, there's no point in going am2 just yet

 

[p4h8ter]

I think im just gonna stick with getting a 939 setup. I read some shit about the AMD 64 chips and they said that the ddr2 memory really doesnt make a difference with one of these setups.

 

[Geoff]

I think im just gonna stick with getting a 939 setup. I read some shit about the AMD 64 chips and they said that the ddr2 memory really doesnt make a difference with one of these setups.

The difference is very miniscule, only about 1-5% depending on the app.. The major advantages of AM2 are in memory hungry apps, such as sciencemark.

 

[p4h8ter]

see im a gamer so I think I will be ok with an amd 64 3700 San Diego. it has the 1mb l2 cache i was looking for and runs pretty decent

 

[fade2green514]

do they have those for AM2? i didnt see any single cores with 1mb L2 for AM2
personally.. im going to wait for intel's conroe and check benchmarks and really research strengths and weaknesses.