New AMD Dual-Cores require new motherboards?

[PrayForDeath]

According to Tom's newest article on the new Pentium 4 600 series, the upcoming Intel Smithfield dual-core processors will need a modification on the LGA775 slot thus requiring a new motherboard. My question is, what about the upcoming AMD dual-core processors? Will they work on socket-939 mobos?

 

[EightySix Four]

they say yes they will work fine on 939.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
they say yes they will work fine on 939.

I have heard the same things....remember though AMD is releasing dual core Opterons first and I believe those are sckt 940's.......

The main thing may be that they need a bios update to properly recognize them but that should be minute...as long as manufacturers dont look at this as a way to force us to buy a new mobo for complete support....Will see....

 

[Mrvile]

Remember what happened with the FX-51? We don't want that happening again.

 

[PetNorth]

AMD plans to bring client dual-core AMD64 processors, based on the existing 939-pin socket, to the market in the second half of 2005.

Quoted from here:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~94936,00.html

 

[PrayForDeath]

Cool! Then I won't have to change my new nForce4 mobo in the future to upgrade my CPU.

 

[carlosd]

Yes, that's why people not buy intel at this time. Poor of them(intel 775 owners) would have to buy a new board to to get a dual core.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: carlosd
Yes, that's why people not buy intel at this time. Poor of them(intel 775 owners) would have to buy a new board to to get a dual core.

Hehe, there's always new features coming out, one right after another. If you wait for the next best thing, you'll be waiting an eternity.

Chances are by the time dual cores are fully optimized, there may be newer motherboard features, like faster SATA or new RAM specs. (DDR > DDR2) Kinda like the people who stuck with the Intel 440BX boards forever. Remember upgrading with the slockets and upgrade cards to get the newer features?

At any rate, personally I'm still stoked about my 3.4GHz 550 Prescott w/EM64T instructions. Not everyone upgrades the day it hits NewEgg or ZZF.

 

[Sentential]

Depends on the power regs that each motherboard has. If you look at Gigabyte and MSI you will notice immediatly the smaller FETs, while most NF4s specifcially DFI bears alot bigger Fets.

The main reason which would pose compatabilty issues would be power reltated. So long as you have an Nforce4 especially a DFI I would imagine that you will be fine

 

[Fenuxx]

Yeah, the only thing as a requirement that I read was that it required a motherboard that supports 90nm processors, which if I'm not mistaken, all S939 mobos do, so, all 939 users out there (including me with my "crappy" AGP-bound nForce3) should be fine with dual-core.

 

[superkdogg]

Originally posted by: geforcetony
Yeah, the only thing as a requirement that I read was that it required a motherboard that supports 90nm processors, which if I'm not mistaken, all S939 mobos do, so, all 939 users out there (including me with my "crappy" AGP-bound nForce3) should be fine with dual-core.

They all do now. Some didn't when they first came out, but that was a BIOS issue. New releases and PRESTO!

What I've read says dual core will be the same way.

JB007-I hear what you're saying, but the fact remains AMD users have the advantage of going to dual-core without a new mobo/memory combination. That's a known fact. Not to say that you're wrong, just pointing out that the option is there for AMD, and not for Intel.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: carlosd
Yes, that's why people not buy intel at this time. Poor of them(intel 775 owners) would have to buy a new board to to get a dual core.

Hehe, there's always new features coming out, one right after another. If you wait for the next best thing, you'll be waiting an eternity.

Chances are by the time dual cores are fully optimized, there may be newer motherboard features, like faster SATA or new RAM specs. (DDR > DDR2) Kinda like the people who stuck with the Intel 440BX boards forever. Remember upgrading with the slockets and upgrade cards to get the newer features?

At any rate, personally I'm still stoked about my 3.4GHz 550 Prescott w/EM64T instructions. Not everyone upgrades the day it hits NewEgg or ZZF.

Don't remind me! I built a 440BX system as my first overclocking machine and while it didn't hit the roof, it ran like a tank for almost 5 years. Eventually I surrendered and built a new system. Slockets! Haven't heard that in a long time.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: PrayForDeath
Cool! Then I won't have to change my new nForce4 mobo in the future to upgrade my CPU.

Yeah, you're kicking butt wiith that, I wouldn't change a thing. You have probably the best upgrade path of anyone, along with others on the same platform....

 

[Capt Caveman]

Curious, next year the M2 mobos are supposed to come out that support DDR2. Will it be possible to retrofit a dual core s939 cpu on a M2 socket? Or will a new revision dual core come out next year?

 

[gobucks]

yeah, the upgrade path is the main reason i bought an nforce 4 in the first place. Oh, and AMD has shown off dual cores running in an A8N-SLI with just standard BIOS, so clearly it won't be a lot of work to take advantage of them. Of course, dual core 939s will be lower end compared to the M2 versions, which will have DDR2-667 (or DDR3-800 depending on timeframe) and Pacifica virtualization technology. Then again, if AMD's current marketing plan holds into the future, then you'll actually be able to get better performance for less money on 939, since clockspeeds will likely be higher for equivalently rated processors. After all, a current socket 754 2.4GHz 3400+ often outperforms a 939 2.2GHz 3500+, so i imagine the same will be true of the transition to M2. Still, M2 will be pretty cool, unless they implement hardware DRM, which I am really afraid might happen. If that's the case, then I'll be keeping my socket 939 system as a media center indefinitely.

As for retrofitting a 939 -> M2, I don't think it's possible, due to completely different mem controllers. A 939 processor would be unable to use the DDR2/DDR3 controller on the M2 board. The closest you might come is an Asrock combo board, kinda like the 939/754 combo boards, with 2 DDR and 2 DDR2/3 slots and 2 CPU sockets.

 

[johnh123]

What kind of performance gain will we see with dual-core- has there been any data released on that?

 

[Duvie]

One an only speculate base on dual cpu systems...At least in the AMD dual core they are 2 completely independent cores with their own cache....
The only question I have with current boards will it share the memory bus or give one channel to each core???

 

[Capt Caveman]

Any guesses on what the prices will be for these sizzlin cpus?

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: Duvie
One an only speculate base on dual cpu systems...At least in the AMD dual core they are 2 completely independent cores with their own cache....
The only question I have with current boards will it share the memory bus or give one channel to each core???

Since dual core was planned from the beginning I'd imagine they would share it, but it was designed with that in mind. Dual-channel probably will be more crucial to eek out the most of dual-cores.