Phenom AM2+ cpus

[TommyD]

I was wondering, will the Phenom AM2+ socket chips work in the regular AM2 socket? I remember reading someplace that AMD was planning on making the AM2+ backwards compatible to fit into the AM2 sockets.

 

[21]

Yes, from what I know AM2+ processors are backwards compatible with the AM2 socket. I even think AM3 is supposed be backwards compatible with AM2.

 

[error8]

Yes they are backwards compatible, but not every AM2 motherboard supports Phenom cpus. You should check the motherboard manufacturer to see if that specific AM2 mobo supports the Phenom quad core.

 

[TommyD]

yep, thanks alot for the info guys. My friend wants to upgrade but he doesn't want to buy a new board and everything. So i figured this was the best solution.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: error8
Yes they are backwards compatible, but not every AM2 motherboard supports Phenom cpus. You should check the motherboard manufacturer to see if that specific AM2 mobo supports the Phenom quad core.

Unfortunately, the majority don't. The actual socket is compatible, but the majority of AM2 motherboards aren't. Whether or not that's only because they don't have a BIOS that supports Phenom (laziness, IOW), or that the boards without a Phenom BIOS don't have them because the board actually won't support the chip, I have no idea.

 

[Nathelion]

From what I've heard, AM3 CPUs will be compatible with AM2+ motherboards (assuming the vendor provides an updated BIOS... a pretty big if). I haven't seen any explicit mentions of AM2 compatibility though.