AMD's Socket-AM2 is a brand new 940-pin socket that will add DDR2 support for all desktop AMD processors. There will be AM2 versions of Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2 and Sempron CPUs. All of these are internally known as the Rev F core. When AM2 launches in June, AMD will offer official support for DDR2-533, 667 and 800. As of today, the fastest DDR2 that Intel officially supports is DDR2-667; however, by the time Conroe launches in Q3, Intel will also add DDR2-800 to the list.
The new Socket-AM2 CPUs add support for AMD's Pacifica Virtualization technology - AMD's answer to Intel's VT. While the two technologies aren't directly compatible, given the respect that AMD has gained over the past few years you can expect software developers to support it. Virtualization will become increasingly more important as time goes on, as we have already seen in recent announcements of Intel VT support on Apple platforms.
The third thing that AM2 brings us is what AMD is calling their Energy Efficient microprocessors. Certain SKUs of AM2 processors will be binned according to their power consumption and grouped into two categories: 65W and 35W. Both TDPs, interestingly enough, are competitive with what Intel is targeting for their 65nm Conroe processors. What's even more impressive is that there will be an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ that's available at both 65W and 35W TDPs, compared to the standard 89W TDP.
AM2 Roadmap :
According to internal AMD documents, system builders will be able to purchase the new AM2 processor starting on May 15th.
Dual core and single core Athlon 64 processors will be available as well as 64-bit Sempron processors.
AMD's newest roadmaps claim the new 940 pin Socket AM2 will launch at Computex Taipei on June 6, 2006. The AM2 socket is not compatible with existing Socket 940 CPUs, but will allow AM2 processors to utilize up to DDR2-800.
Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 FX and Sempron will all use the AM2 socket. The unified socket should alleviate many of the nightmares system builders experienced during the Socket 754/939 days.
Energy Efficiency Of AM2 :
AMD will also soon unveil a new set of desktop Sempron and Athlon 64s specifically geared for HTPC and other low noise / low power devices. The goal is to build processors that do not need a lot of cooling -- specifically to reduce the noise of the overall system to the 27dBA range for idle and 30dBA under load. One of the upcoming Windows MCE requirements for CPUs is that the processor fan not exceed 30dBA for MCE certification.
The Energy Efficient CPUs will have a slightly redesigned Sleep, Power and Suspend states. These states are controlled by the operating system, but will require BIOS updates.
The Energy Efficient Athlon 64 3800+ rated at 35W is not a typo -- AMD actually has a dual core 35W processor on the roadmap.
Benchmarks :
Rev F processors feature a 128-bit DDR2-800 memory controller, which works out to offer a peak theoretical bandwidth to/from memory of 12.8GB/s. As you can expect, that's twice the bandwidth of Rev E CPUs' 128-bit DDR-400 controller at 6.4GB/s.
Thus to see a 36% increase in memory bandwidth according to ScienceMark is to be expected, albeit a bit on the low side. The old DDR-400 memory controller is able to deliver 5GB/s out of a maximum of 6.4GB/s, but now we're only seeing 6.8GB/s out of a maximum of 12.8GB/s with AM2.
What's even more important than the increase in memory bandwidth is that access latency has been reduced by 7.5% over the DDR-400 memory controller in the Rev E cores. Lower latency and more bandwidth means that, at bare minimum, performance won't go down. At least, not perceptibly: .4% slower in one test that has a 1-2% variability is nothing to worry about.
If we only count the overall SYSMark score and leave out the synthetic tests, the real world performance advantage averages out to a little under 1.3%. There are some special cases such as Quake 4 and DivX were performance goes up fairly reasonably, which can be expected since both of those tasks are fairly bandwidth intensive and make good use of both cores.
Pricing :
AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62 will be the company's top desktop offering for the remainder of the year. It is not until Q1 of 2007 that we will see the FX-64 hit the market. All other AM2 processors are officially under embargo until June 6, 2006.
The SSBP above denotes the Suggested System Builder Price. Actual manufacturer purchase prices are approximately 10% less.
And of course, you can be sure those new CPUs will come with heatpipe coolers and new packaging. AMD insiders have confirmed to us that AM2 motherboards will be shipping for several weeks before the launch to assure widespread availability at launch.
Rivals :
When Intel first talked about moving to DDR2 there was concern that AMD's delayed move to the new memory technology would result in it being behind the curve, but the absolute opposite held true; Intel showed no benefit from DDR2 initially and AMD did just fine with only DDR-400.
However times are changing, and after a very long hiatus Intel will soon resume increases in FSB frequency, not to mention that their new Core architecture is considerably more data hungry than anything we've seen to date. So on the Intel side of the fence, the greater bandwidth offered by DDR2 will finally have a real use. With Intel DDR2 demand increasing and more manufacturing shifting away from DDR, it now makes sense for AMD to jump on the DDR2 bandwagon as well.
If AMD does it early enough, the transition to DDR2 will be complete before any of its products desperately need it, which is always a better route.
Summing It Up :
The fact of the matter is that CPUs will get more cores, reach higher clock speeds and feature more data-hungry architectural changes, all of which require more memory bandwidth. AMD's options are to either add more memory bus pins to the already staggering 939-pin package, or to embrace a higher bandwidth (and lower voltage) memory standard; the option it chose makes a lot of sense.
Like it or not, DDR2 is the future, and AM2 will be the new socket for AMD's future 65nm parts as well. DDR2 is also competitively priced with DDR memory while generally offering higher bandwidths, and with most manufacturers transitioning to DDR2 now we expect to see further DDR2 price cuts.
With AM2 you are investing in memory that will have a longer lifespan and a motherboard that will have a better upgrade path than Socket-939 today. The only other advantage other than a more secure upgrade path that AM2 offers is AMD's upcoming Energy Efficient desktop CPUs. We're particularly intrigued by the 35W Athlon 64 X2 3800+; if you thought AMD's processors were cool and quiet, a 35W X2 should blow you away.
The disheartening news for AMD and its fans alike is that if AM2 can't offer significant performance increases over what we have now, then all Intel has to do is execute Conroe on schedule, delivering the performance we've been promised and 2006 will be painted blue.
AMD has been telling us that 2007 is the year we'll see major architectural changes to their processors, so AM2 may very well be as good as it gets for now. That's still very good, of course - the fastest X2 chips still outperform the fastest Pentium D chips - but it looks like after three years K8 may finally get some competition for the performance crown.
[break=AMD's new Socket AM2: it's no Conroe-killer]
AMD's new Socket AM2: it's no Conroe-killer, but it's not supposed to be
[/B][/SIZE]Anandtech's new benchmark results for a prerelease version of AMD's forthcoming AM2 socket format will come as no surprise.
The combination of AM2 and DDR2 doesn't offer any real advantage for AMD at this point, because their processors aren't yet bottlenecked by memory bandwidth. The introduction of AM2 is a forward-looking move that will become relevant only when more cores per chip and higher clockspeeds start to put more pressure on the memory subsystem.
So AM2 isn't going to keep Conroe from retaking the x86 performance crown when it's launched, but then again it's not supposed to. AM2's effects won't be felt until much later in the mid-range, when both Intel and AMD increase the number of cores per socket and memory bandwidth really starts to become a major bottleneck, and sooner at the very high end with four-socket and higher designs.
AM2 V/S Conroe :
AMD won't be introducing a major new CPU architecture to replace Hammer until 2007. In the meantime, the company plans to combat Intel's Conroe by exploiting the edge that their combination of a more scalable, glueless multiprocessor interconnectâ€â€coherent HyperTransportâ€â€with an on-die memory controller gives them over Intel's aging FSB architecture and off-die memory controller.
For the consumer, these kinds of issues aren't going to have a direct impact on performance or purchasing decisions. Consumers don't care that you can gluelessly add new sockets, and that AMD's NUMA design means that the system's aggregate bandwidth can scale right through the roof. This is because even high-end consumer-level systems are going to have one socket, period, and in the single-socket world of content creation and gaming benchmark bakeoffs Conroe's shared-bus FSB and off-die memory controller won't hold it back. Not even when the number of cores per chip increases will the AM2 + HT + on-die DDR2 combination give AMD a single-socket advantage over Intel, since there's only a certain amount of bandwidth you can push through one lone socket, HT or no HT.
The main place where the influence of HT + AM2 + on-die DDR2 will be felt is in the server market. Multisocket AMD boards will be cheaper to make, and they'll have more aggregate memory bandwidth. Furthermore, in the realm of four sockets and up, AMD's interconnect and memory bandwidth edge will probably be decisive.
So to sum up, interconnect and memory controller issues won't save Hammer from Conroe's desktop onslaught. The only place where these factors will really give AMD a sustained advantage is in the multi-socket server market. As Anand points out in his conclusions, if you're thinking of buying a new board, by all means wait for AM2 if you can. It'll give you a better upgrade path to DDR2. But don't expect AM2 to give any kind of magic boost to your desktop system either in the near-term or in the long-term. Any single-socket desktop boost for AMD systems will have to wait for the company's next-generation core.
[break=DDR2 Performance on AM2]
The move by AMD from the current Socket 939 to Socket AM2 is pretty straightforward. We know the new AM2 processors will continue to be built using the same 90nm manufacturing process currently used for Athlon 64 processors; AMD does not show roadmaps with AM2 processors built on 65nm until early 2007. To this point AMD has also reiterated that AM2 will not bring any changes to the Athlon 64 core.
In other words, the socket will change to the new AM2 Socket 940, but under the hood the current 939 and the upcoming AM2 940 will beat with the same heart. The only substantive difference expected with AM2 is the move from DDR memory to official AMD DDR2 Memory support.
With that in mind it is time to delve more deeply into the what is really new in AM2 - support for DDR2 memory with AMD's unique on-processor memory controller. Many have expressed expectations of remarkable performance increases for DDR2 on AM2.
This would be at odds with what we have seen from DDR2 in the past with the move of Intel's NetBurst architecture to DDR2, as there were really no gains at all in the switch to DDR2. Those expecting big gains point out that the AM2 on-chip memory controller, like the Athlon 64 on-chip DDR controller, should provide much lower latency and higher efficiency than Intel's chipset-based memory controller for DDR2.
You already know that the AM2 does modestly outperform Athlon64 Socket 939. What will be explored here is how the memory controllers compare in latency and bandwidth, memory performance at various DDR2 settings compared to fast DDR400 2-2-2 memory, and basic overclocking performance of AM2 compared to Socket 939 when the CPU and memory are both pushed to improve performance.
Final Thoughts :
After looking more closely at DDR2 memory performance on the 4th spin of the AM2 processor it is clear AMD will definitely be able to launch AM2 with the expectation of better performance than the Socket 939 it replaces. This avoids one of the huge pratfalls that plagued Intel in their move to DDR2.
However, the memory bandwidth increases of up to 30% on AM2 and the Latency improvements of 12 to 16% compared to the fastest DDR memory on socket 939 do not yield much in real-world performance. The real-world performance increase for AM2 compared to Socket 939 will likely be very small - in the range of no increase to about 10%, depending on the application.
In normal times this would be great news! In times where previews of Intel's new Conroe architecture show solid 20%+ improvements in performance compared to AMD Socket 939, these smaller AM2 increases are reason for concern. It certainly appears that unless some unforeseen miracle happens, the move from Socket 939 DDR to AM2 DDR2 just can't generate anywhere near the performance improvement AMD really needs to combat Intel's Conroe. This article evaluated memory and gaming performance, but you can see comparisons of General Performance, multimedia and encoding in the companion article AMD Socket-AM2 Performance Preview.
Not all is gloom in the AMD camp, however, as there are certainly bright spots. AM2 IS faster than Socket 939, with even more possible DDR2 bandwidth for the future. Unfortunately, unless AMD makes revisions to the core and/or adds more cache with the 65nm die-shrink there is not much improvement from the move to AM2. The extra bandwidth and lower latency just don't translate into meaningful performance improvements with today's applications.
There are also a few general observations about using DDR2 with the new upcoming AM2. Using fast, top-line memory DDR2-533 is roughly equivalent in bandwidth to fast DDR400 memory. That observation should also hold with mainstream memory where DDR400 3-3-3 should perform about like DDR2-533 4-4-4. Most memory manufacturers will also be producing fast high-end DDR2-800 and more mainstream DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 parts for launch with AM2, so there will likely be many more memory choices when AM2 launches.
Last, the move to a unified memory specification with Intel will likely be a good development for those looking to buy new DDR2 memory. With AMD and Intel both using DDR2 there will likely be more innovation in the DDR2 market, more choices, and even better prices. Add to that the expectation that both AM2 and Conroe will launch with official DDR2-800 support and faster DDR2 memory should be much easier to find and afford in the near future.
It appears AMD will succeed in launching a faster on-processor DDR2 memory controller. The latest AM2 pre-release samples are showing significant improvements over Socket 939 DDR in both memory bandwidth and latency. Unfortunately, the current AMD architecture running current applications and games doesn't appear to need the additional bandwidth or reduced latency. This may change in the future, but for now the move to AM2 and DDR2 memory looks like it will yield far too little in performance improvements to keep AMD competitive in the upcoming marketplace.
[break=AM2 processors on sale now]
[break=AMD samples AM2 platforms]
AMD samples AM2 platforms
With system integrators and OEM's
AMD has been shipping test AM2 platforms for almost two weeks now. It wants to convince system integrators and OEMs to use its upcoming designs for their summer/autumn refresh machines.
We also know that motherboard manufacturers are playing with AM2 DDR 2 supporting chipsets and that some of the motherboards might be finished by the middle of next month. No one will launch before Computex in June, but most of the big ones will be ready for that date.
We were warned not to expect miracles from the AM2 platform but we also learned that it should work nice and steady, it is just the memory controller that AMD changed inside of the CPU. Manufacturers such as Nvidia used this opportunity to redesign their chipsets and re-brand them. You know the story - new lamps for old - but that is the way this game is meant to be played.
Nforce 5 has to be better than Nforce 4 and AMD will soon be ready with its socket AM2 platforms.
[break=Socket AM2 let down by DDR2]
Socket AM2 let down by DDR2
Chipset patter
DDR 2 Memory currently works at faster clocks than DDR1, but it still has some latency hang-ups.
800MHz DDR 2 may work at CL4 ms, but faster implementations of DDR1 can work at CL 2ms latencies, at 400MHz. This is a trade-off that you simply have to accept.
This lands AMD a problem. By moving to DDR 2 800 with an Athlon AM2 CPU, you won’t see a pants-busting performance boost. Stuff will run faster, but up to roughly five percent faster not much more than that.
Funnily enough, the price of DDR 2 should be three to five percent higher than DDR 1 at launch time, so you can easily work out the price of performance.
But it won’t be an easy task to convince the people that it is imperative to move from DDR 1 Athlons to DDR 2 ones.
And it looks like AMD will need all the sales patter it can muster as it looks like Intel's upcoming rival Conroe is performing as expected, or even better.
[break=AMD Bumps AM2 Launch Date]
AMD Bumps AM2 Launch Date
June 6, 2006 didn't fit AMD's schedule
We just got official confirmation from motherboard and chipset manufacturers in Taiwan -- AMD has moved the official launch date of Athlon 64 DDR2 up two weeks to May 23, 2006. AMD roadmaps have previously put the AM2 launch at June 6, 2006 (during Computex 2006), but since motherboards and CPUs are already completed, the launch will be pushed up.
AMD insiders tell us Conroe's launch date was also a factor in pushing the AM2 launch date up, though even we do not know the exact date Intel's Conroe will launch.
AMD's latest advisories claimed the following:
[break=MSI AM2 motherboard snapped]
MSI K9 Motherboard Series – The First Motherboards for AMD AM2 Socket!
IT-REVIEWS has some very nice photos of the new MSI AM2 based motherboards. The MSI K9N SLI Platinum for example comes with the nForce 570 SLI MCP with dual GbE LAN, Firewire, six SATA2 and ten USB 2.0 ports plus even more, including a more price sensitive version called the MSI K9N Platinum which comes with a slightly smaller set of features. All the motherboards are equipped with Dual Core Cell which combine with VGA Corecell 3D.
MSI, the leading mainboard manufacturer, is introducing cutting-edge technology on its latest motherboards for AMD AM2 CPU. All the MSI K9 Series are equipped with passive CPU and north bridge cooler. This allows you to enjoy the speed and performance with zero-noise produced by the motherboard even during the most power-requiring processes. MSI introduces five different configurations. Further, MSI is going to extend the product line to 9 different configurations by the middle of the May.
The MSI K9N SLI Platinum:
• NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP chipset
• Supports Socket AM2, 64bit Athlon 64 and Athlon FX processors
• 2 PCI-E x16 slots for SLI
• Hyper Transport support speed up to 2GHz
• 4 DIMMs DDRII 533/667/800 up to 8GB
• Dual LAN 10/100/1000 and FireWire
• 8-channel High Definition Audio
• Supports 6 SATAII, storage and data transfer up to 3.0GB/sec
• SATA 1~6 suports RAID 0/1/0+1,5
• 2 PCI-E x16, 2 PCI-E x1, 3 PCI slots
• 10x USB 2.0, 2x IEEE1394
• Dual CoreCell with D.O.T. Express
• 1 MSI communication slot
• Silent Heatsink
New Generation Dual CoreCell Software Design
MSI is introducing new generation Dual CoreCell software design with MSI K9 Series. The latest features of the new Dual CoreCell are:
• Key components status hardware monitoring
• Dual Core CPU each unit status monitoring
• D.O.T. Technology up to 12% improvement
• Online BIOS/Driver Update Automatically
• System status define optimization
• Adjusting & monitoring with Dual CoreCenter on windows system
• Auto speed up with system loading change
• 5 environment mode and 3 user define mode
• Combine with VGA CoreCell 3D, totally called Dual CoreCell
[break=AMD socket AM2 etail prices emerge]
AMD socket AM2 etail prices emerge
From €66 for Sempron 64 2800+ to €1223 for FX62
We hear that one of the German stores decided to already list socket AM 2 prices. You won't be able to buy those for at least four more weeks but at least you can get an idea how much will they cost.
Austrian site Geizhals.at show that the cheapest one will cost €65.63. And for this money you will get a Sempron 64 2800+ clocked at 1.6 GHz and powered with 128kb cache memory.
AMD also offers Sempron 3000+, the same clock CPU, with 256KB cache memory for €75.77. Also listed are 3200+, 3400+, 3500 and 3600+ socket AM2 CPUs.
The fastest Sempron is clocked at 2000MHz has 256KB cache memory and it is of course a 64-bit CPU, supports Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and its maxima thermal dissipation should be around 35W.
All Semprons 128KB and 256KB ones are based on Manila Core, F-Stepping and costs €121.19. The site says chips will be available in June but it will gladly take your money for pre-order.
The cheapest Athlon 64 socket AM2 is 3500+ clocked at 2.2GHz and supported by 512KB cache memory is listed for €205.01. It is based on Orleans core, F-Stepping core supports AMD 64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and its maxima thermal dissipation should be around 65W. It supports AMD Pacifica visualisation marchitecture. AMD also offers AM2 3800+ clocked at 2.4GHZ with the same spec and €286.82 price.
The rest of the CPUs are more expensive and dual-core. The cheapest is AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Sockel-AM2 boxed, 2x 2.00GHz, 2x 512kB Cache based on Brisbane core, F stepping and is set to cost €299.94. Its maximal thermal dissipation should be around 89W while it also supports AMD 64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and Pacifica marchitecture.
AMD also offers 4000+ clocked at 2GHZ with 2x 1MB cache and will sell it for €324.18, 4200+2.2GHZ x 2 with 2 x 512KB cache for €360.54, 4400+ with 2.2GHZ x 2 and 2 x 1024KB cache for €464.55, 4800+ with 2x 2.4GHz and 2x 1024KB cache for €638.49 and the milestone 5000+ with 2x2.6GHZ cores, each powered with 512KB cache for €688.75, all based on Brisbane core.
Last up, the flagship Athlon 64 FX 62 is based on Windsor core, F-stepping and supports AMD64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX-Flag, SSE3, Pacifica and it is dual-core, of course. It is clocked to 2.8GHz x2 and each core has 1024KB cache memory. It is listed for saucy €1223.48.
You can check it and preorder this stuff here.
The third thing that AM2 brings us is what AMD is calling their Energy Efficient microprocessors. Certain SKUs of AM2 processors will be binned according to their power consumption and grouped into two categories: 65W and 35W. Both TDPs, interestingly enough, are competitive with what Intel is targeting for their 65nm Conroe processors. What's even more impressive is that there will be an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ that's available at both 65W and 35W TDPs, compared to the standard 89W TDP.
AM2 Roadmap :
According to internal AMD documents, system builders will be able to purchase the new AM2 processor starting on May 15th.
Dual core and single core Athlon 64 processors will be available as well as 64-bit Sempron processors.
AMD's newest roadmaps claim the new 940 pin Socket AM2 will launch at Computex Taipei on June 6, 2006. The AM2 socket is not compatible with existing Socket 940 CPUs, but will allow AM2 processors to utilize up to DDR2-800.
Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 FX and Sempron will all use the AM2 socket. The unified socket should alleviate many of the nightmares system builders experienced during the Socket 754/939 days.
Energy Efficiency Of AM2 :
AMD will also soon unveil a new set of desktop Sempron and Athlon 64s specifically geared for HTPC and other low noise / low power devices. The goal is to build processors that do not need a lot of cooling -- specifically to reduce the noise of the overall system to the 27dBA range for idle and 30dBA under load. One of the upcoming Windows MCE requirements for CPUs is that the processor fan not exceed 30dBA for MCE certification.
The Energy Efficient CPUs will have a slightly redesigned Sleep, Power and Suspend states. These states are controlled by the operating system, but will require BIOS updates.
The Energy Efficient Athlon 64 3800+ rated at 35W is not a typo -- AMD actually has a dual core 35W processor on the roadmap.
Benchmarks :
Rev F processors feature a 128-bit DDR2-800 memory controller, which works out to offer a peak theoretical bandwidth to/from memory of 12.8GB/s. As you can expect, that's twice the bandwidth of Rev E CPUs' 128-bit DDR-400 controller at 6.4GB/s.
Thus to see a 36% increase in memory bandwidth according to ScienceMark is to be expected, albeit a bit on the low side. The old DDR-400 memory controller is able to deliver 5GB/s out of a maximum of 6.4GB/s, but now we're only seeing 6.8GB/s out of a maximum of 12.8GB/s with AM2.
What's even more important than the increase in memory bandwidth is that access latency has been reduced by 7.5% over the DDR-400 memory controller in the Rev E cores. Lower latency and more bandwidth means that, at bare minimum, performance won't go down. At least, not perceptibly: .4% slower in one test that has a 1-2% variability is nothing to worry about.
If we only count the overall SYSMark score and leave out the synthetic tests, the real world performance advantage averages out to a little under 1.3%. There are some special cases such as Quake 4 and DivX were performance goes up fairly reasonably, which can be expected since both of those tasks are fairly bandwidth intensive and make good use of both cores.
Pricing :
AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62 will be the company's top desktop offering for the remainder of the year. It is not until Q1 of 2007 that we will see the FX-64 hit the market. All other AM2 processors are officially under embargo until June 6, 2006.
The SSBP above denotes the Suggested System Builder Price. Actual manufacturer purchase prices are approximately 10% less.
And of course, you can be sure those new CPUs will come with heatpipe coolers and new packaging. AMD insiders have confirmed to us that AM2 motherboards will be shipping for several weeks before the launch to assure widespread availability at launch.
Rivals :
When Intel first talked about moving to DDR2 there was concern that AMD's delayed move to the new memory technology would result in it being behind the curve, but the absolute opposite held true; Intel showed no benefit from DDR2 initially and AMD did just fine with only DDR-400.
However times are changing, and after a very long hiatus Intel will soon resume increases in FSB frequency, not to mention that their new Core architecture is considerably more data hungry than anything we've seen to date. So on the Intel side of the fence, the greater bandwidth offered by DDR2 will finally have a real use. With Intel DDR2 demand increasing and more manufacturing shifting away from DDR, it now makes sense for AMD to jump on the DDR2 bandwagon as well.
If AMD does it early enough, the transition to DDR2 will be complete before any of its products desperately need it, which is always a better route.
Summing It Up :
The fact of the matter is that CPUs will get more cores, reach higher clock speeds and feature more data-hungry architectural changes, all of which require more memory bandwidth. AMD's options are to either add more memory bus pins to the already staggering 939-pin package, or to embrace a higher bandwidth (and lower voltage) memory standard; the option it chose makes a lot of sense.
Like it or not, DDR2 is the future, and AM2 will be the new socket for AMD's future 65nm parts as well. DDR2 is also competitively priced with DDR memory while generally offering higher bandwidths, and with most manufacturers transitioning to DDR2 now we expect to see further DDR2 price cuts.
With AM2 you are investing in memory that will have a longer lifespan and a motherboard that will have a better upgrade path than Socket-939 today. The only other advantage other than a more secure upgrade path that AM2 offers is AMD's upcoming Energy Efficient desktop CPUs. We're particularly intrigued by the 35W Athlon 64 X2 3800+; if you thought AMD's processors were cool and quiet, a 35W X2 should blow you away.
The disheartening news for AMD and its fans alike is that if AM2 can't offer significant performance increases over what we have now, then all Intel has to do is execute Conroe on schedule, delivering the performance we've been promised and 2006 will be painted blue.
AMD has been telling us that 2007 is the year we'll see major architectural changes to their processors, so AM2 may very well be as good as it gets for now. That's still very good, of course - the fastest X2 chips still outperform the fastest Pentium D chips - but it looks like after three years K8 may finally get some competition for the performance crown.
[break=AMD's new Socket AM2: it's no Conroe-killer]
AMD's new Socket AM2: it's no Conroe-killer, but it's not supposed to be
[/B][/SIZE]Anandtech's new benchmark results for a prerelease version of AMD's forthcoming AM2 socket format will come as no surprise.
The combination of AM2 and DDR2 doesn't offer any real advantage for AMD at this point, because their processors aren't yet bottlenecked by memory bandwidth. The introduction of AM2 is a forward-looking move that will become relevant only when more cores per chip and higher clockspeeds start to put more pressure on the memory subsystem.
So AM2 isn't going to keep Conroe from retaking the x86 performance crown when it's launched, but then again it's not supposed to. AM2's effects won't be felt until much later in the mid-range, when both Intel and AMD increase the number of cores per socket and memory bandwidth really starts to become a major bottleneck, and sooner at the very high end with four-socket and higher designs.
AM2 V/S Conroe :
AMD won't be introducing a major new CPU architecture to replace Hammer until 2007. In the meantime, the company plans to combat Intel's Conroe by exploiting the edge that their combination of a more scalable, glueless multiprocessor interconnectâ€â€coherent HyperTransportâ€â€with an on-die memory controller gives them over Intel's aging FSB architecture and off-die memory controller.
For the consumer, these kinds of issues aren't going to have a direct impact on performance or purchasing decisions. Consumers don't care that you can gluelessly add new sockets, and that AMD's NUMA design means that the system's aggregate bandwidth can scale right through the roof. This is because even high-end consumer-level systems are going to have one socket, period, and in the single-socket world of content creation and gaming benchmark bakeoffs Conroe's shared-bus FSB and off-die memory controller won't hold it back. Not even when the number of cores per chip increases will the AM2 + HT + on-die DDR2 combination give AMD a single-socket advantage over Intel, since there's only a certain amount of bandwidth you can push through one lone socket, HT or no HT.
The main place where the influence of HT + AM2 + on-die DDR2 will be felt is in the server market. Multisocket AMD boards will be cheaper to make, and they'll have more aggregate memory bandwidth. Furthermore, in the realm of four sockets and up, AMD's interconnect and memory bandwidth edge will probably be decisive.
So to sum up, interconnect and memory controller issues won't save Hammer from Conroe's desktop onslaught. The only place where these factors will really give AMD a sustained advantage is in the multi-socket server market. As Anand points out in his conclusions, if you're thinking of buying a new board, by all means wait for AM2 if you can. It'll give you a better upgrade path to DDR2. But don't expect AM2 to give any kind of magic boost to your desktop system either in the near-term or in the long-term. Any single-socket desktop boost for AMD systems will have to wait for the company's next-generation core.
[break=DDR2 Performance on AM2]
The move by AMD from the current Socket 939 to Socket AM2 is pretty straightforward. We know the new AM2 processors will continue to be built using the same 90nm manufacturing process currently used for Athlon 64 processors; AMD does not show roadmaps with AM2 processors built on 65nm until early 2007. To this point AMD has also reiterated that AM2 will not bring any changes to the Athlon 64 core.
In other words, the socket will change to the new AM2 Socket 940, but under the hood the current 939 and the upcoming AM2 940 will beat with the same heart. The only substantive difference expected with AM2 is the move from DDR memory to official AMD DDR2 Memory support.
With that in mind it is time to delve more deeply into the what is really new in AM2 - support for DDR2 memory with AMD's unique on-processor memory controller. Many have expressed expectations of remarkable performance increases for DDR2 on AM2.
This would be at odds with what we have seen from DDR2 in the past with the move of Intel's NetBurst architecture to DDR2, as there were really no gains at all in the switch to DDR2. Those expecting big gains point out that the AM2 on-chip memory controller, like the Athlon 64 on-chip DDR controller, should provide much lower latency and higher efficiency than Intel's chipset-based memory controller for DDR2.
You already know that the AM2 does modestly outperform Athlon64 Socket 939. What will be explored here is how the memory controllers compare in latency and bandwidth, memory performance at various DDR2 settings compared to fast DDR400 2-2-2 memory, and basic overclocking performance of AM2 compared to Socket 939 when the CPU and memory are both pushed to improve performance.
Final Thoughts :
After looking more closely at DDR2 memory performance on the 4th spin of the AM2 processor it is clear AMD will definitely be able to launch AM2 with the expectation of better performance than the Socket 939 it replaces. This avoids one of the huge pratfalls that plagued Intel in their move to DDR2.
However, the memory bandwidth increases of up to 30% on AM2 and the Latency improvements of 12 to 16% compared to the fastest DDR memory on socket 939 do not yield much in real-world performance. The real-world performance increase for AM2 compared to Socket 939 will likely be very small - in the range of no increase to about 10%, depending on the application.
In normal times this would be great news! In times where previews of Intel's new Conroe architecture show solid 20%+ improvements in performance compared to AMD Socket 939, these smaller AM2 increases are reason for concern. It certainly appears that unless some unforeseen miracle happens, the move from Socket 939 DDR to AM2 DDR2 just can't generate anywhere near the performance improvement AMD really needs to combat Intel's Conroe. This article evaluated memory and gaming performance, but you can see comparisons of General Performance, multimedia and encoding in the companion article AMD Socket-AM2 Performance Preview.
Not all is gloom in the AMD camp, however, as there are certainly bright spots. AM2 IS faster than Socket 939, with even more possible DDR2 bandwidth for the future. Unfortunately, unless AMD makes revisions to the core and/or adds more cache with the 65nm die-shrink there is not much improvement from the move to AM2. The extra bandwidth and lower latency just don't translate into meaningful performance improvements with today's applications.
There are also a few general observations about using DDR2 with the new upcoming AM2. Using fast, top-line memory DDR2-533 is roughly equivalent in bandwidth to fast DDR400 memory. That observation should also hold with mainstream memory where DDR400 3-3-3 should perform about like DDR2-533 4-4-4. Most memory manufacturers will also be producing fast high-end DDR2-800 and more mainstream DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 parts for launch with AM2, so there will likely be many more memory choices when AM2 launches.
Last, the move to a unified memory specification with Intel will likely be a good development for those looking to buy new DDR2 memory. With AMD and Intel both using DDR2 there will likely be more innovation in the DDR2 market, more choices, and even better prices. Add to that the expectation that both AM2 and Conroe will launch with official DDR2-800 support and faster DDR2 memory should be much easier to find and afford in the near future.
It appears AMD will succeed in launching a faster on-processor DDR2 memory controller. The latest AM2 pre-release samples are showing significant improvements over Socket 939 DDR in both memory bandwidth and latency. Unfortunately, the current AMD architecture running current applications and games doesn't appear to need the additional bandwidth or reduced latency. This may change in the future, but for now the move to AM2 and DDR2 memory looks like it will yield far too little in performance improvements to keep AMD competitive in the upcoming marketplace.
[break=AM2 processors on sale now]
AM2 processors on sale now
Well, not exactly. You can purchase them, but they arent in stock yet. Head on over to Channelonline.com and pre-order yours today. Notice the $74 Sempron, that seems like a great price for new technology.
Well, not exactly. You can purchase them, but they arent in stock yet. Head on over to Channelonline.com and pre-order yours today. Notice the $74 Sempron, that seems like a great price for new technology.
[break=AMD samples AM2 platforms]
AMD samples AM2 platforms
With system integrators and OEM's
AMD has been shipping test AM2 platforms for almost two weeks now. It wants to convince system integrators and OEMs to use its upcoming designs for their summer/autumn refresh machines.
We also know that motherboard manufacturers are playing with AM2 DDR 2 supporting chipsets and that some of the motherboards might be finished by the middle of next month. No one will launch before Computex in June, but most of the big ones will be ready for that date.
We were warned not to expect miracles from the AM2 platform but we also learned that it should work nice and steady, it is just the memory controller that AMD changed inside of the CPU. Manufacturers such as Nvidia used this opportunity to redesign their chipsets and re-brand them. You know the story - new lamps for old - but that is the way this game is meant to be played.
Nforce 5 has to be better than Nforce 4 and AMD will soon be ready with its socket AM2 platforms.
[break=Socket AM2 let down by DDR2]
Socket AM2 let down by DDR2
Chipset patter
DDR 2 Memory currently works at faster clocks than DDR1, but it still has some latency hang-ups.
800MHz DDR 2 may work at CL4 ms, but faster implementations of DDR1 can work at CL 2ms latencies, at 400MHz. This is a trade-off that you simply have to accept.
This lands AMD a problem. By moving to DDR 2 800 with an Athlon AM2 CPU, you won’t see a pants-busting performance boost. Stuff will run faster, but up to roughly five percent faster not much more than that.
Funnily enough, the price of DDR 2 should be three to five percent higher than DDR 1 at launch time, so you can easily work out the price of performance.
But it won’t be an easy task to convince the people that it is imperative to move from DDR 1 Athlons to DDR 2 ones.
And it looks like AMD will need all the sales patter it can muster as it looks like Intel's upcoming rival Conroe is performing as expected, or even better.
[break=AMD Bumps AM2 Launch Date]
AMD Bumps AM2 Launch Date
June 6, 2006 didn't fit AMD's schedule
We just got official confirmation from motherboard and chipset manufacturers in Taiwan -- AMD has moved the official launch date of Athlon 64 DDR2 up two weeks to May 23, 2006. AMD roadmaps have previously put the AM2 launch at June 6, 2006 (during Computex 2006), but since motherboards and CPUs are already completed, the launch will be pushed up.
AMD insiders tell us Conroe's launch date was also a factor in pushing the AM2 launch date up, though even we do not know the exact date Intel's Conroe will launch.
AMD's latest advisories claimed the following:
- May 16, 2006: Global announcement of Energy Efficient Processor roadmap and pricing
- May 23, 2006: Global announcement of Socket AM2 and new desktop product availability and pricing
- May 31, 2006: Global announcement of AMD LIVE! desktop system availability
[break=MSI AM2 motherboard snapped]
MSI K9 Motherboard Series – The First Motherboards for AMD AM2 Socket!
IT-REVIEWS has some very nice photos of the new MSI AM2 based motherboards. The MSI K9N SLI Platinum for example comes with the nForce 570 SLI MCP with dual GbE LAN, Firewire, six SATA2 and ten USB 2.0 ports plus even more, including a more price sensitive version called the MSI K9N Platinum which comes with a slightly smaller set of features. All the motherboards are equipped with Dual Core Cell which combine with VGA Corecell 3D.
MSI, the leading mainboard manufacturer, is introducing cutting-edge technology on its latest motherboards for AMD AM2 CPU. All the MSI K9 Series are equipped with passive CPU and north bridge cooler. This allows you to enjoy the speed and performance with zero-noise produced by the motherboard even during the most power-requiring processes. MSI introduces five different configurations. Further, MSI is going to extend the product line to 9 different configurations by the middle of the May.
The MSI K9N SLI Platinum:
• NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP chipset
• Supports Socket AM2, 64bit Athlon 64 and Athlon FX processors
• 2 PCI-E x16 slots for SLI
• Hyper Transport support speed up to 2GHz
• 4 DIMMs DDRII 533/667/800 up to 8GB
• Dual LAN 10/100/1000 and FireWire
• 8-channel High Definition Audio
• Supports 6 SATAII, storage and data transfer up to 3.0GB/sec
• SATA 1~6 suports RAID 0/1/0+1,5
• 2 PCI-E x16, 2 PCI-E x1, 3 PCI slots
• 10x USB 2.0, 2x IEEE1394
• Dual CoreCell with D.O.T. Express
• 1 MSI communication slot
• Silent Heatsink
New Generation Dual CoreCell Software Design
MSI is introducing new generation Dual CoreCell software design with MSI K9 Series. The latest features of the new Dual CoreCell are:
• Key components status hardware monitoring
• Dual Core CPU each unit status monitoring
• D.O.T. Technology up to 12% improvement
• Online BIOS/Driver Update Automatically
• System status define optimization
• Adjusting & monitoring with Dual CoreCenter on windows system
• Auto speed up with system loading change
• 5 environment mode and 3 user define mode
• Combine with VGA CoreCell 3D, totally called Dual CoreCell
[break=AMD socket AM2 etail prices emerge]
AMD socket AM2 etail prices emerge
From €66 for Sempron 64 2800+ to €1223 for FX62
We hear that one of the German stores decided to already list socket AM 2 prices. You won't be able to buy those for at least four more weeks but at least you can get an idea how much will they cost.
Austrian site Geizhals.at show that the cheapest one will cost €65.63. And for this money you will get a Sempron 64 2800+ clocked at 1.6 GHz and powered with 128kb cache memory.
AMD also offers Sempron 3000+, the same clock CPU, with 256KB cache memory for €75.77. Also listed are 3200+, 3400+, 3500 and 3600+ socket AM2 CPUs.
The fastest Sempron is clocked at 2000MHz has 256KB cache memory and it is of course a 64-bit CPU, supports Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and its maxima thermal dissipation should be around 35W.
All Semprons 128KB and 256KB ones are based on Manila Core, F-Stepping and costs €121.19. The site says chips will be available in June but it will gladly take your money for pre-order.
The cheapest Athlon 64 socket AM2 is 3500+ clocked at 2.2GHz and supported by 512KB cache memory is listed for €205.01. It is based on Orleans core, F-Stepping core supports AMD 64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and its maxima thermal dissipation should be around 65W. It supports AMD Pacifica visualisation marchitecture. AMD also offers AM2 3800+ clocked at 2.4GHZ with the same spec and €286.82 price.
The rest of the CPUs are more expensive and dual-core. The cheapest is AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Sockel-AM2 boxed, 2x 2.00GHz, 2x 512kB Cache based on Brisbane core, F stepping and is set to cost €299.94. Its maximal thermal dissipation should be around 89W while it also supports AMD 64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Flag, SSE 3 and Pacifica marchitecture.
AMD also offers 4000+ clocked at 2GHZ with 2x 1MB cache and will sell it for €324.18, 4200+2.2GHZ x 2 with 2 x 512KB cache for €360.54, 4400+ with 2.2GHZ x 2 and 2 x 1024KB cache for €464.55, 4800+ with 2x 2.4GHz and 2x 1024KB cache for €638.49 and the milestone 5000+ with 2x2.6GHZ cores, each powered with 512KB cache for €688.75, all based on Brisbane core.
Last up, the flagship Athlon 64 FX 62 is based on Windsor core, F-stepping and supports AMD64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX-Flag, SSE3, Pacifica and it is dual-core, of course. It is clocked to 2.8GHz x2 and each core has 1024KB cache memory. It is listed for saucy €1223.48.
You can check it and preorder this stuff here.
