Question for my Fellow AM3 owners.

[RobertPters77]

Did you buy AM3 in the hopes of Bulldozer backwards compatibility?



I did. When I purchased my PC back in June 2010 the sole reason I bought AM3 was the promise of an upgrade path to Bulldozer. A few months ago when Amd stated that AM3+ is not backwards compatible with AM3 my hopes were crushed. I really really resented my Amd purchase. I could've bought a 930 at microcenter for the same price as I paid for my 1090t. And an X58 board would've only been 50$ more than my troublesome foxconn. Making the system costs comparable, but with alot more performance on the intel side.

 

[sandorski]

Other. I hoped for the compatibility, but last year around this time(approx 1 month from now) it was becoming rather Iffy that it would. Bought my X6 to last me a few years, so all's good. However, if BD turns out to be real nice, I might be tempted to upgrade early.

 

[richierich1212]

I guess you haven't seen ASUS' recent announcement:

http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/

Plus what CPU would you have upgraded to if you bought a 930? To a 970? 980X?

 

[podspi]

I bought my AM3 setup in the hopes it would be BD compatible. If I had known it wouldn't be, I probably would have suffered with my old setup until this summer. So actually I am glad I made the leap...

 

[SickBeast]

I guess you haven't seen ASUS' recent announcement:

http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/

Plus what CPU would you have upgraded to if you bought a 930? To a 970? 980X?

Yeah this is exciting news. We'll have to see how it all pans out. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow suit.

 

[RobertPters77]

Plus what CPU would you have upgraded to if you bought a 930? To a 970? 980X?

Depends. I had an E6400 machine for nearly 5 years. I only upgraded the cpu to a Q6600 new in box off craigslist over a year ago, and then gave the machine away to a relative because I thought my notebook was more than enough as a desktop replacement. I repurchased a desktop system because a notebook cannot fully replace a desktop.

I would've bought a 970 most likely or if I could a 980x or 990x.

 

[podspi]

I would've bought a 970 most likely or if I could a 980x or 990x.

Well, you couldn't have purchased a 990X because they were just released. The 980X was over a grand at that time (I think) so that CPU would have probably cost you almost as much if not more than the entire AMD-based system D:

If you're that disappointed of the 1090T, hopefully you put the money you saved in an interest-bearing account and didn't blow it on booze and tacos, and now you can pick up a 2600K, OC it to 4+ ghz :awe:

And probably still spend less than a crazy high-end 980X rig.

 

[Phynaz]

Sadly it's not the first time AMD has done this.

 

[Farmer]

Nope, I got AM3 because the CPUs were cheap and fast enough.

When it comes to CPU socket format, I never "plan for the future," because I've tried to do that before and it never worked out (like, Socket 754 essentially had no upgrade path despite many claims to the contrary). Besides, new architectures are generally released with a new chipset. If I'm jumping to a new architecture, might as well jump to new chipset.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Actually, I was buying AM2+/AM3 boards, with DDR2, at Microcenter in the combo deals, because I still had DDR2 lying around.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I don't want to sound rude to the OP, but buying into a socket hoping it will support an entirely new CPU architecture is not particularly intelligent, for either manufacturer.

And reg. "troublesome Foxconn board," ahh...it's Foxconn - you get what you pay for!

 

[Phynaz]

I don't want to sound rude to the OP, but buying into a socket hoping it will support an entirely new CPU architecture is not particularly intelligent, for either manufacturer.

And reg. "troublesome Foxconn board," ahh...it's Foxconn - you get what you pay for!

He wasn't hoping for anything. AMD said for years they would work.

 

[996GT2]

I had this same issue with my MSI K9N Platinum AM2 board. AM2 boards at the time were supposed to fully support Phenom CPUs, but my MSI was one of the several exceptions and would only support Athlon CPUs.

So yeah, not the first time AMD's done this.

 

[Vic Vega]

I built my AM3 rig close to six months ago now and have been very happy with it. My X4 965 has been sitting at 4.0GHz since day one with only a multiplier change (no fiddleing with memory, voltage, etc).

I came from a S939 machine I built in 2006.

If Bulldozer support is offered for AM3 I will definitely upgrade my CPU - if not, AMD will be waiting another four years to get another dollar from me.

The ball is in AMD's court. Offer support and I will spend more money; don't and I won't. Simple.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

He wasn't hoping for anything. AMD said for years the would work.

Citation? The closest I remember were unofficial rumblings last year that Bulldozer would be a drop-in upgrade for Magny Cours. I don't ever recall reading anything other than rumors that BD would be a drop-in for AM3.

 

[sandorski]

Citation? The closest I remember were unofficial rumblings last year that Bulldozer would be a drop-in upgrade for Magny Cours. I don't ever recall reading anything other than rumors that BD would be a drop-in for AM3.

Ya, it was always kind of a grey area. I think people just over stretched what was actually said. Obviously the difference between AM3/AM3+ isn't large, so such confusion surrounding it is understandable.

 

[busydude]

Citation? The closest I remember were unofficial rumblings last year that Bulldozer would be a drop-in upgrade for Magny Cours. I don't ever recall reading anything other than rumors that BD would be a drop-in for AM3.

Interlagos is a drop in upgrade for MC. Back in 2009 AMD said Zambezi will be a drop in upgrade to Thuban.

This was in Nov '09..

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Interlagos is a drop in upgrade for MC. Back in 2009 AMD said Zambezi will be a drop in upgrade to Thuban.

This was in Nov '09..

That roadmap does not say what you are saying. Again, show me a reference where AMD officially said "Bulldozer APUs will be drop-in upgrades on existing AM3 boards."

Ya, it was always kind of a grey area. I think people just over stretched what was actually said. Obviously the difference between AM3/AM3+ isn't large, so such confusion surrounding it is understandable.

Gray area? It was an unknown, period. Anyone who bought AM3 because they hoped BD would be a drop-in upgrade should be disappointed only in themselves, not AMD. Anyone who bought AM3 because they expected BD to be a drop-in upgrade didn't do their research properly.

 

[Phynaz]

Citation? The closest I remember were unofficial rumblings last year that Bulldozer would be a drop-in upgrade for Magny Cours. I don't ever recall reading anything other than rumors that BD would be a drop-in for AM3.

"In 2011 we get Bulldozer and it comes in the form of the Zambezi CPU (AMD’s codenames are such fun). You’ll see four and eight core versions of Zambezi. Both will support DDR3 and both will work in Socket-AM3."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2871/2


"As part of its Financial Analyst Day for 2009, AMD listed out its priorities for the year ahead, looking into 2010. ....AMD went as far as to disclose that the enthusiast-grade processor carrying the codename "Zambezi" will continue to come in the AM3 package, so now it is clear that the socket has a long road ahead. "

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108095


"The first enthusiast CPU to employ the Bulldozer design is currently codenamed Zambezi, and it will contain four of these dual core modules for a total of eight cores. We also know for a fact that Zambezi will use socket AM3, meaning anyone with a DDR3 Phenom II motherboard will be ready to rock with a BIOS upgrade."

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/what-we-know-about-amds-next-generation-processors/


And the coup de grace:

"“Scorpius”
Market: Desktop
What is it? Enthusiast desktop platform based on the “Zambezi” processor (“Bulldozer” x86 core based) with 4-8 cores, DDR3 memory, AM3 socket and next-generation AMD discrete graphics technology.
Planned for introduction: 2011"

http://sites.amd.com/us/Documents/FADay_CodeNameDecoder_11_10_09_vFINAL.docx


Hopefully next time you will consider your words before calling somebody unintelligent or accusing them of not doing proper research. Those words can come back to bite you.

 

[bryanW1995]

No. I read all the posts about 6 mos ago from amd saying that there would be no backwards compatibility. I just wanted to compare an x6 rig to my current intel offerings to get a better idea of which way to go when SB/BD came out.

 

[waffleironhead]

I was not aware that BD would not be backward compatible till you posted this.

Its a shame that your system was only two months old when your hopes of upgrading to BD were crushed. I clearly remember the feeling when I was going to upgrade to a pentiumD in my prescott/915g based system. Same socket, but no support.



This is the earliest article I could find referencing the bulldozer not being compatible in am3 boards. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2368185,00.asp

oh and this one from planet 3dnow has a good explanation of the reasoning behind it.
http://www.planet3dnow.de/cgi-bin/newspub/viewnews.cgi?id=1282840508

"When we initially set out on the path to bulldozers we were hoping for AM3 compatibility, but further along the process we realized that we had to make a choice based on some of the features that we wanted to bring with bulldozers. We could either Provide AM3 support and lose some of the capabilities of the new architecture or bulldozers, we could choose the AM3 socket + Which would allow the bulldozer base Zambezi to have greater performance and capability.

"The majority of the computer buying public will not upgrade their processors, but enthusiasts do. The majority of the computer-buying public will not upgrade their processors, but enthusiasts Thurs When we did the analysis it was clear that the customers who were most likely to upgrade an AM3 motherboard to a Bulldozer would want the features and capability that would only be delivered in the new AM3+ sockets. When did the analysis it was clear that the customers who were most likely to upgrade to AM3 motherboard to a bulldozer we would want the features and capability that would only be delivered in the new AM3 + sockets. A classic Catch-22. A classic Catch-22."

 

[Gigantopithecus]

"In 2011 we get Bulldozer and it comes in the form of the Zambezi CPU (AMD’s codenames are such fun). You’ll see four and eight core versions of Zambezi. Both will support DDR3 and both will work in Socket-AM3."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2871/2


"As part of its Financial Analyst Day for 2009, AMD listed out its priorities for the year ahead, looking into 2010. ....AMD went as far as to disclose that the enthusiast-grade processor carrying the codename "Zambezi" will continue to come in the AM3 package, so now it is clear that the socket has a long road ahead. "

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108095


"The first enthusiast CPU to employ the Bulldozer design is currently codenamed Zambezi, and it will contain four of these dual core modules for a total of eight cores. We also know for a fact that Zambezi will use socket AM3, meaning anyone with a DDR3 Phenom II motherboard will be ready to rock with a BIOS upgrade."

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/what-we-know-about-amds-next-generation-processors/

Those are speculation - informed speculation, yes, but still speculation - from late 2009. You're also cherry-picking quotes, as this is also from your first link: "Obviously guaranteeing motherboard support this early in the game is difficult, but AMD is usually good about maintaining socket compatibility. You may be able to slip a Zambezi into your current day Socket-AM3 motherboards."

"
And the coup de grace:

"“Scorpius”
Market: Desktop
What is it? Enthusiast desktop platform based on the “Zambezi” processor (“Bulldozer” x86 core based) with 4-8 cores, DDR3 memory, AM3 socket and next-generation AMD discrete graphics technology.
Planned for introduction: 2011"

http://sites.amd.com/us/Documents/FADay_CodeNameDecoder_11_10_09_vFINAL.docx

Again, from late 2009. Anyone who bought AM3 in late 2009 because it was 'future-proof' in that AMD suggested it would be compatible with a totally new architecture that would be released over a year later (or as it turns out, more than 18 months later) was more optimistic than realistic and is either new to the game or hasn't been paying attention.

Hopefully next time you will consider your words before calling somebody unintelligent or accusing them of not doing proper research. Those words can come back to bite you.

If you say so. I'm not the one bemoaning a product that won't do something almost two years after it was vaguely alluded to be able to do.

 

[RobertPters77]

Its a shame that your system was only two months old when your hopes of upgrading to BD were crushed. I clearly remember the feeling when I was going to upgrade to a pentiumD in my prescott/915g based system. Same socket, but no support.

I know that feel bro. I wish companies were more upfront about these things though.

 

[Phynaz]

I'm not the one bemoaning a product that won't do something almost two years after it was vaguely alluded to be able to do.

You asked for citation. I gave you the AMD documentation.

Whatever.

 

[BD231]

I built my AM3 rig close to six months ago now and have been very happy with it. My X4 965 has been sitting at 4.0GHz since day one with only a multiplier change (no fiddleing with memory, voltage, etc).

I came from a S939 machine I built in 2006.

If Bulldozer support is offered for AM3 I will definitely upgrade my CPU - if not, AMD will be waiting another four years to get another dollar from me.

The ball is in AMD's court. Offer support and I will spend more money; don't and I won't. Simple.

lol @ ultimatum, AMD is not your girlfriend .