AMD has two new sockets coming, where the first, AM2+, will introduce support for HyperTransport 3.0, while the second, AM3, will introduce support for the new memory standard DDR3. We recently reported about the release of the Biostar TF560 A2+, the world’s first Socket AM2+ motherboard, and we are awaiting a wave of other motherboards supporting the new Socket AM2+. NVIDIA’s new AM2+ chipsets should be more or less pin-compatible with the older AM2 chipsets, so it shouldn’t be that much work releasing several new motherboards with AM2+ support, while AMD’s own chipsets with AM2+ support are due this fall.
While the AM2+ processors will also arrive this fall, AM3 processors with their DDR2/DDR3 memory controllers will not arrive until next fall, 2008. DigiTimes has now posted some information about the names of these various processors.
The AMD AM3 family will contain a similar setup as the AM2 of today. One quad-core; Deneb, and a quad-core FX model; DenebFX. Two dual-cores, Propus and Regor, and one single-core, Sargas. These are all based on the IBM/AMD 45nm high-k manufacturing process, but at this early stage there is no information about the specifications or even predicted performance of these.
It’s been clear for some time though that AM2, AM2+ and AM3 will have some sort of compatibility. It seems that AM3 processors will work with both AM2 and AM2+ motherboards without the AM3 specific features though, but AM3 motherboards will not support AM2 or AM2+ processors.
