Ok, I've been out of it for a while. Is Socket 754 staying around? Or is AMD going to change it?

[KDOG]

I haven't been keeping up with the news as the overtime at work is kicking my *ss, so I am kinda confused as to whats going on with AMD. The A64FX is their top dog right? Which is currently SOcket 940, but will be socket 939 here shortly? And the A64 is socket 754 and it is AMDs entry level 64bit proc right? Is socket 754 sticking around? I saw in the news that the A64 is pretty attractivly priced so I might be interested in an upgrade. I wonder how it compares to my current system though. That is before overclocking the A64 of course.

EDIT: I may wait until theres a A64 with PCI express however...

 

[JediJeb]

I am not sure of the timetable but the FX and the A64 are both switching to 939 which will give them dual channel memory. The 754 will still be made but there is only one or two more speed grades of processor slated to be released for it I think the 3700+ is going to be the top of the line on that socket. I think the 939 A64's are supposed to be released around June but in limited supply which I imagine will make them fairly expensive until production ramps up. I have heard also that there may be more 32 bit chips released on the A64 socket to make things more uniform in the future. If anyone knows more on that give a yell.

 

[Matthias99]

Socket 754 *is* going away -- eventually -- but that could take quite a while (at least a year before they stop making the processors). Socket 939 is replacing it -- semi-official release date is now apparently May 25th, according to an article at xbit -- although it may kick around for quite a while as the 'value' 64-bit solution. I believe 90nm chips will only be out for socket 939, although that may change as well!

Basically, if you don't mind not having an AGP/PCI lock, only having single channel memory (not much of a bottleneck for AMD64 chips), and probably not being able to upgrade past a 3400+, there's nothing 'wrong' with socket 754. If you intend to keep your system for more than a year or two, you should probably wait the 3-4 months it will take to get Socket 939 solutions out and reviewed, since it will have a longer upgrade path. IMHO, anyway.

I have heard also that there may be more 32 bit chips released on the A64 socket to make things more uniform in the future. If anyone knows more on that give a yell.

I saw a roadmap that mentioned Socket 754 AthlonXP processors, but there's been no official release date set. This may or may not actually be happening, and it may or may not happen anytime soon.

 

[formulav8]

Actually, the new NForce 3 250 has a working AGP/PCI lock in place. Production boards should implement this feature as well. It will be the only Socket 754 mobo solution that I will even consider now.


Jason