Official AM3 Discussion

[StratosP]

In this thread, we'll all put it info and questions about AMD's new AM3 socket CPU's.

I can't make this a helpful thread for everyone if they don't have atleast 1 piece of information...so:
AM3 CPU's will work on AM2 motherboards, but AM2 CPU's won't work on AM3 motherboards.

Now are the questions
1) When will the AM3 CPU's be available for purchase?
2) What speed of RAM can you use with the CPU's (I know that it uses HT to replace FSB, but I don't understand how the HT relates to RAM and the speed the RAM can be.)
3)Is there currently a list or table of the AM3 specifications?

Thanks!

 

[Lowndsey]

1) It did have an expected release for January 2009, as a replacement for Socket AM2/AM2+. But currently Socket AM2+ processors (Code Name: Deneb 45 nm) are scheduled for a January 8th 2009 launch, pushing back the release of Socket AM3 to February 2009.

 

[worshipme]

1) When will the AM3 CPU's be available for purchase?

Q2 09

2) What speed of RAM can you use with the CPU's (I know that it uses HT to replace FSB, but I don't understand how the HT relates to RAM and the speed the RAM can be.)

AM2+ 45nm Phenoms will have a DDR2 1066 memory controller, nobody knows much about the AM3 CPUs, yet.

3)Is there currently a list or table of the AM3 specifications?

Nothing concrete.

 

[Remeniz]

(I know that it uses HT to replace FSB, but I don't understand how the HT relates to RAM and the speed the RAM can be.)

Thanks!

From what I know the Hyper Transport is the high speed data connection from the on-board memory controller to the RAM. The FSB is really a clock and the CPU and RAM will multiply the clock speed to get the operating frequency. The term FSB is incorrect I think for an AMD motherboard as it is just a clock generator that you can adjust which will effectively adjust the speed of the other chip-set components.

AM3 motherboards will feature DDR3 RAM slots thats why you won't be able to use AM2 CPU's on the AM3 Boards. The memory controller on the AM2 chips won't do DDR3 RAM speeds and timings.

Although AM3 CPU's can work on slower AM2 DDR2 motherboards. I guess the HT or memory speed divisor will allow this.

Correct me if i'm wrong though.

And i'm looking forward to the AM3's, big time.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

2) What speed of RAM can you use with the CPU's (I know that it uses HT to replace FSB, but I don't understand how the HT relates to RAM and the speed the RAM can be.)

Just a quick FYI: AM2/AM2+ processors never ran on a FSB. They already ran on the HT.

edit: Here's a read on HT (from AMD's 8th generation processors: Ahtlon & Opteron)

The HT doesn't allow for higher speeds to be used...the standard was still 800MHz, like the lowest bottleneck of an Intel FSB, but it does decrease latency.

 

[viiron]

I realize this thread is kind of old, but thought I might take a stab a starting it up again. As of today, AM3 Phenom II's will have the following attributes:

Memory: DDR3 1333 / 1600 (OC)
Socket: AM3 / 938 (or 941) <-- I've seen conflicting reports on this.

There have also been a few motherboards released (though not yet for sale). I've only listed the 790FX / SB750 AM3 motherboards. Most have 790GX counterparts however.

From MSI - 790FX-GD70:

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1740

From ASUS - M4A79-T Deluxe:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/886/1/

(the AM2+/AM3 supported version of this board is the M4A79 Deluxe which can be found on the ASUS website)

From Gigabyte - GA-MA790FXT-UD5P:

http://www.dvhardware.net/article32572.html

Foxconn has also release a few boards for the socket AM3 (non with the 790FX chipset that I could find atm though)

With these boards so close to being on the market, you can surely expect to see the Phenom II 945 arriving sometime in early to mid February.

 

[worshipme]

The Phenom II 925 was listed for a short while somewhere, AMD removed it though. Means they must be very close.

 

[worshipme]

Bump...

Reviews for the DDR3 supporting AM3s are starting to appear.

Five new Phenoms were released:
* AMD Phenom II X4 910 2.6GHz 8MB cache
* AMD Phenom II X4 810 2.6GHz 6MB cache <- "we'll be looking at a series 800 processor today (AMD Phenom II X4 810) and see if that reduced cache size will have a big effect on performance. This is a full-fetched quad core processor at a very aggressive introduction price of 175 USD. And just to make a statement, it's faster than the adored Q6600 processor from Intel."
* AMD Phenom II X4 805 2.5GHz 6MB cache
* AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz 7.5MB cache <- "a new triple-core AMD Phenom II X3 720, which (and I'll try not to spoil anything) is a huge winner when we look at performance versus value. As both processors are launched at pretty spectacular prices; especially when you notice how much performance they bring to the table. "
* AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz 7.5MB cache

The 720 and the 710 are the ones to look out for IMO, they are great performance to price wise and Guru3D agree.

All of them have both DDR2 and DDR3 memory controllers so you can run them in AM2/AM2+ boards. They all have a 95W TDP.

They test them on a DDR2 board though which is bit annoying.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-phenom-ii-x4-810-and-x3-720be-review-am3/1

 

[JogaBonito1502]

I can "vouch" for the PII 720 BE. Over at the Overclockers Forum they are getting great results with the AM2 version.