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AMD desktops 'to go Socket M2 H2 2006'
Paving way for quad-core?
AMD is to transition all its desktop processors to Socket M2 in H2 2006, following the upcoming connectivity system's introduction next year.
Both interconnects will also support dual-channel DDR 2 SDRAM, which would mean that rumours that AMD would skip DDR 2 and go straight to DDR 3 are unfounded.
So sat Taiwanese PC and server makers who claim to have seen the chip maker's roadmap, according to a DigiTimes report.
Socket M2 will be initially supported by future Opteron 1xx parts, while the two-way and four-way versions of AMD's server chip family will use Socket F. M2 will use a 940-pin port, it seems, while F will use 1207 pins. Both interconnects will presumably pave the way for the quad-core processors AMD expects to ship in 2007, but they will also be used by single- and dual-core chips too.
M2 and F will replace AMD's current array of interconnects: Socket 754, used by Sempron and Athlon 64 parts; Socket 939, used by Athlon 64 and Athlon 64-FX; and Socket 940, used by Opteron 1xx, 2xx and 8xx processors. The chip maker is currently deprecating the old Socket A interconnect, and it is expected to migrate the Opteron 1xx line to Socket 939 later this year. ®
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