worth the wait for socket 939?

[k3nt]

I understand athlon 64's new socket 939 will have a much longer lifespan than 754 (which will move to athlon xp). I also understand it supports dual channel memory while having only 512 L2 cache. I am building a new system very soon and I am wondering if it is worth it to wait for 939? Will 939 CPUs and mobos be readily available by june? Will there even be much of a performance increase from 754 to 939? Someone please enlighten me 😀

 

[wizdum]

Ditto. Does the socket 754 athlon 64 not support dual channel memory? How much L2 cache does the current athlon 64 have?

 

[nitromullet]

The current socket 754 A64 does not support dual channel memory, and the amount of cache depends on the chip.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1985

 

[Twsmit]

Ideally they will be out in june, and judging by the PR numbers they will be faster than similarly clocked socket 754's.

Socket 939 will play host to 1MB cache A64-FX, and 512kb cache A64. Both are dual channel and support unbuffered regular memory.

Socket 754 will continue (on the road map at least) to 3700+, and 1MB cache. It is single channel and uses regular unbuffered memory. There are also rumors that AMD will release Athlon XP's that are 32bit only on this socket. Currently there are 512kb and 1MB cache cpu's, both mobile and desktop versions.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
The current socket 754 A64 does not support dual channel memory, and the amount of cache depends on the chip.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1985

Can't you consider Dual Channel memory being DDR (Double Data Rate) since it is running it in "dual channels" (on the rise and on the fall periods) haha

You mean it doesn't support dual channel memory running in dual channel configuration 😉 oh confusion!!!

 

[Twsmit]

no, what he said is correct. Dual channel memory is like drinking through two different straws that are in two different cups. DDR memory is just double data rate so twice as fast as SDR, dual channel means there are actually two channels worth of bandwidth.