DDR3 and AM2?

RWB

I am curious what's going to happen when DDR3 comes out, which i believe is at the end of the year? Will AM2 go the way of 754... 939... 940... and then we'll have to get a whole new system? Or will AMD play it smart and STICK WITH A SOCKET like they did with Socket A which was bliss... and easier on the pocket.

Any ideas?

Thrax

AM2 CPUs do not support DDR3, but AM3 CPUs (Same socket, different memory controller) will support DDR2 and DDR3. AM3 CPUs will work with DDR2 in AM2 boards, but DDR3 will only work with an AM3 chip and board.

//EDIT: That tactic reeks to high hell, DDR3 support should've been included in the AM2 chips. Intel wins another round by featuring an off-die controller with... WHAT.. The same memory bandwidth. Swap the board, use DDR3.

RWB

Ugh I hate DDR2... I hope DDR3 will be worth the upgrade.

Mt_Goat

RWB wrote:

Ugh I hate DDR2... I hope DDR3 will be worth the upgrade.

Just stick it out with your 939 for now.

RWB

That's the plan... but tell me if I am wrong.... but bandwidth doesn't mean CRAP if it's laggy so to speak. I mean CAS 5 is just plain crap, I don't care if the memory runs at 1000MHz+

I wish my laptop had regular DDR, becuase DDR2 is a waste on it, it doesn't even get 3000MBps memory bandwidth in a DUAL CHANNEL CONFIG! It's not a setting issue, it's the chipset, i915... it doesn't require high amounts of bandwidth as far as I can tell. So DDR2 is actually hindering my system whereas I could get the same bandwidth with regular DDR memory but at much better timings.

Am I wrong?

Park_7677

It feels like DDR is going the way of RAMBUS

High MHz and high latency. Only difference is DDR still has a wider bit path.

muddocktor

RWB, comparing laptop mem bandwidth to the mem bandwidth of what you see in a modern desktop system is like comparing an old air cooled VW motor to a Ferrari DOHC V12. There is no tunability in any laptop bios and they run conservative, safe settings on ram speed. If you check review benchmarks done lately run with low latency (and more expensive) DDR2 you will see that mem bandwidth on DDR2 has caught up and a lot of cases, slightly surpasses DDR finally. You think your lappy's mem bandwidth is bad, you should see what I get on my old Dothan lappy that uses DDR with the old 855 chipset.

Omega65

Thrax wrote:

AM2 CPUs do not support DDR3, but AM3 CPUs (Same socket, different memory controller) will support DDR2 and DDR3. AM3 CPUs will work with DDR2 in AM2 boards, but DDR3 will only work with an AM3 chip and board.

Thrax is on the money.

Dailytech: Socket AM2 Forward Compatible With AM3 CPUs

AMD has released details of its next-generation desktop CPU interface, Socket AM3, to its OEM partners. In a mildly surprising move, AMD has revealed that AM2 will accept AM2 or AM3 CPU packages. Additionally, recent roadmaps have confirmed that AM3, AMD's upcoming desktop CPU socket, will not be backwards compatible with AM2-package CPUs. Roadmaps and memos have also confirmed that this AM3 package will be for AMD's "K8L" architecture, and not for the upcoming 65nm AM2 Brisbane CPUs scheduled for launch this December.

The most recent AMD roadmap is also very clear to state AM3 "supports either DDR2 SDRAM or DDR3 SDRAM, but not on the same motherboard." This is great news for upgraders, as there is a very clear upgrade path: CPU, motherboard, and then memory. This also infers that AM3 CPUs will have both DDR2 and DDR3 support on the integrated memory controller. DDR3, like DDR2, has 240-pin, but the two formats are not pin-compatible.

edcentric

DDR3 is lower voltage and has the chance to be lower latency.
The production cost is coming down fast too since it is beeing used already in video.
I am going to try to hold out for a while also. I want to see 65nm AM2 with low power and enhanced memory controler. Of course Core2 should actually be on the market by then.

Thrax

DDR3 and the memory technology used for video (GDDR3) are nothing alike. The costs of production and fabrication techniques are extremely dissimilar.