what is a dual channel socket?

[vood0g]

i hear people mention dual channel socket a lot, but dont know what it means. can anyone help me out?

 

[aka1nas]

They are probably referring to socket 939/940 vs socket 754 for the Athlon 64 and Opteron Platforms. Socket 754 is the current Athlon64 socket, and it only supports a single channel of DDR. The Opterons, AthlonFXs, and the upcoming socket 939 Athlon64s are capable of dual channels of DDR, giving the CPU more memory bandwith and increasing performance in some cases.

 

[vood0g]

hmm... i see. another point to wait for the socket 939 chips.

 

[myocardia]

Actually, dual-channel is useless for an A64. Why do you think the A64 3400 scores within 1% or so of the same speed FX-51? Because dual-channel is useless for an Athlon64.