So, that’s the cores out of the way. So, what next? Sockets. When I wrote an article a while ago I advised against buying into Athlon 64 altogether since AMD were in a mess over their sockets, but now things have cleared up. There are 4 sockets if you include K7 processors, so here they are:
Socket A: As I already said, this is for the old Athlon XP series and the Semprons based on K7 technology. This socket is very old, and as a result AMD want it replaced. It will be replaced by socket 754, since socket 754 is the budget socket like socket A is now.
Socket 754: This started off as a mainstream socket, being the only socket apart from socket 940 that supported the Athlon 64. It supports single channel memory access only, no dual channel is capable with this socket.
Now, notice I said it started off as a mainstream socket. First socket 754 came, then socket 939. When socket 939 arrived, socket 754 became the budget line. Unfortunately for everyone else, this meant that the only new processors to be released for the socket 754 platform would be the budget line, Semprons. It is wise to avoid this platform unless you really are in the market for a budget system.
Socket 939: Socket 939 supported dual channel memory access, and had faster processors available, including the Athlon 64 FX series that were previously only available on the socket 940 platform. More importantly though, was the fact this socket was the new mainstream line. That means all the new processors are going to be on this socket, until AMD decide another socket change is in order that is.
It used to be that this socket was way too expensive, but now it is at reasonable prices. If you want to be able to upgrade later on, this is the socket for you.
Socket 940: This socket first came about when the Opteron processor was released, which is a server processor. Also, this was the first socket to have the Athlon 64 FX series on it until the cheaper socket 939 came onto the scene.
This socket supports dual channel, but as a downside needs expensive registered memory to function. This is probably why AMD wanted the Athlon 64 FX off this socket, the need for ECC memory put this processor motherboard and memory combo out of many peoples price reach. Socket 939 has the benefit of dual channel and no need for ECC memory.
This socket should be avoided unless you want an Opteron, no more Athlon 64 FX processors will be released on this platform.
So now you know the difference between the sockets, technologies, processors, and processor cores. At the moment this is all AMD has to offer on the desktop, until they release dual core that is. Dual core will probably use socket 939, and may even work with current motherboards, but nothing has been confirmed yet. We will just have to wait. But you can be sure PC Mechanic will be here to get you up to date on the next generation of processor technology, which can’t be far off.
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