What about DDR3?
We asked AMD's Phil Hester when he expects to see DDR3 make sense for the desktop, and he gave us an unusually candid answer. According to Hester, it won't be until late 2008 or early 2009 that DDR3 will make economic sense to move to. Given that Phenom will be DDR2 from the start, it looks like AMD's transition to DDR3 will be much like its transition to DDR2: it will complete well after Intel has made the move.
AMD views Intel's constant switching of memory technologies as adopting new technology for the sake of technology, while it prefers to respond directly to its customers' needs. Intel's argument has always been that it needs to make these transitions early to prepare the entire market for them. Clearly we need both approaches; we need a company to take the hit and move the market to a new memory technology so that volumes can ramp up enough to drive the price down. At the same time we need a company like AMD to give those in the know an alternative in the interim, otherwise we would all be paying a lot of money for a new memory technology that today offers no performance improvement.
If AMD moves to DDR3 in the late-2008/2009 timeframe it's unclear as to whether or not we'll need a new processor socket. AMD's current roadmap shows the second generation Phenom core (Shanghai) due out in 2008 but still on Socket-AM2+/1207+. It's quite possible that AMD will introduce another socket in late 2008 (AM3?) that will offer DDR3 support to begin its transition to the new memory technology.
Shanghai : Barcelona :: Penryn : Conroe?
AMD has quietly introduced Shanghai into its processor roadmaps, and it's the successor to the Barcelona core. Little is publicly known about Shanghai but you can expect the newer, open AMD to begin revealing details in a controlled manner; the days of a totally silent AMD are over.
Based on AMD's roadmap, Shanghai will be socket compatible with Barcelona and it is listed as an enhanced version of the Barcelona core. Given that AMD is expected to be at 45nm in the second half of 2008, we'd expect Shanghai to be to Barcelona what Penryn is to Conroe. Unfortunately, Barcelona will most likely compete with Penryn and Shanghai will go head to head with Nehalem, and we have absolutely no indication of how those battles will end up at this point.
Final Words
Today's announcement is more marketing than substance, but it brings us one step closer to what we want: Phenom performance results. Any noise from AMD at this point is better than nothing. Can you guess its next move? It may be more difficult to predict than you'd think...
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chucky2 - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
The last graphic on page 1 seems to indicate it, but I just wanted to see if you guys could confirm it either way:Will Socket-AM2 CPU's work in Socket-AM2+ motherboards?
You've definitely said AM2+ CPU's will at least work in AM2 motherboards, just wondering if maybe you could confirm the AM2 CPU's will be fully supported by the AM2+ motherboards.
Thanks either way!
Chuck
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Yes, Socket-AM2 CPUs should work in Socket-AM2+ motherboards. I haven't personally tested it yet, but that's what AMD's image at the bottom of page 1 is designed to indicate.Take care,
Anand
chucky2 - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Outstanding, Thanks Anand!!!Very nice of AMD to leave us with an upgrade path...unlike Intel...
Chuck
strikeback03 - Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - link
AMD just replaced socket 939 with AM2 last year, breaking that upgrade path. Socket 775 has been around for a while, but will disappear relatively soon. Neither company is going to keep the same socket indefinitely.TA152H - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
What's in a name? that which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title:--Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
OK, that's a bit melodramatic, but it makes you wonder why both Intel and AMD would doff their well known names. Intel probably because Pentium 4 was quickly becoming "Pentium for?", but look what they replaced it with. Core??? Whatever ass thought of that name should be sterilized. Just a terrible name. Maybe the same person that thought of Celeron? It sounds way too much like a non-nutritive vegetable. Maybe AMD should have just gone with Watermelon, it kills two birds with one stone; it ends in "on" and is a vegetable. Both are apparently of some worth in names, although I have no idea why. Itanium is a cool name though, Intel deserves kudos there.
Athlon sounded like some sort of fungal growth. I can see two people talking, one tells his friend -- I got an Athlon and his friend replies not to worry, they have good medications for that nowadays. Horrible name. So was Duron, sounded low class and prosaic. Sempron is pretentious and preppy. Opteron is cool though, sounds modern and futuristic. Phenom is pretty good too, obviously it's intended to sound exciting albeit not particularly professional. I'd be real surprised if they ditch Opteron, which sounds much better for that market.
I'm still surprised AMD dropped Athlon though, it's still a respected name. I mean, anyone who knows anything knows Core 2 is better, but it's not like it's a totally worthless product line Pentium 4 where you not only know it's not as good, but you have an emotional revulsion to the product. It's really kind of strange to me, even though Phenom is a better name. Maybe they feel "AMD" is well known enough that they don't need to be married to Athlon anymore.
Crassus - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Honestly, whenever I hear Opteron I still think of a new laundry detergent, not a processor.Kougar - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Just another post to say article images are still not showing up with Opera 9.20. Doesn't matter even if I do a clean reinstall of Opera, I can only view the article images in IE7.ShizNet - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
F12 -> check 'Enable Referrer Logging'restart Opera
Kougar - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Miracle worker! ;) Thanks a bunch, that seems to have been my problem. Graci Sooo much nicer to be using just Opera again for all my browsing...Final Hamlet - Monday, May 14, 2007 - link
Conclusion: Get foxy :)