Phenom X4 II 940 in my hand ...

[informal]

Chew* might be correct that AM3 is indeed 940 "holes" socket.So we would have(my speculation of course! ):
Sockets(: "holes"):
AM2 : 940
AM2+ : 940
AM3 : 940 (not 938)

CPUs(: pins):
AM2+ Phenom I : 940(DDR2 controller only;DDR3 listed in specs but not supported)
AM2+ Phenom II : 940(DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in AM2(+) and possibly AM3 boards if the AM3 socket is indeed 940 pin compatible and not 938pins/holes only!)
AM3 Phenom II : 938 (DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in all AM2(+)/AM3 boards since it is physically and electrically compatible with those sockets)

Speculation/ OFF

[G0ldBr1ck]

i guess it could be possible but i don't know why they would do it.

Because they cant afford to wait longer for deneb launch and this would be much more cost efective then 2 diffrent designs, tooling, etc...... I would speculate that at worst if they dont want AM2+ to work in AM3 they Disabled DDR3 controler on AM2+ Phenom.

[roofsniper]

Chew* might be correct that AM3 is indeed 940 "holes" socket.So we would have(my speculation of course! ):
Sockets(: "holes"):
AM2 : 940
AM2+ : 940
AM3 : 940 (not 938)

CPUs(: pins):
AM2+ Phenom I : 940(DDR2 controller only;DDR3 listed in specs but not supported)
AM2+ Phenom II : 940(DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in AM2(+) and possibly AM3 boards if the AM3 socket is indeed 940 pin compatible and not 938pins/holes only!)
AM3 Phenom II : 938 (DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in all AM2(+)/AM3 boards since it is physically and electrically compatible with those sockets)

Speculation/ OFF

yes its entirely possible just im trying to see a reason why they would make two sockets when the chips are exactly the same.

[roofsniper]

AM2/3 have 940 PIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
AM3 is same AM2+ but the board have DDR3 slot, but socket is the SAME !!!!

am3 only 938 pin!!!!!!!
i post picture already look it.

[nanohead]

AM3 and AM2 and AM2+ is same !
940pin !!!!

AM3 is compatible with AM2+ and AM2 !

Nope.... Roofsniper is correct

[nanohead]

AM2/3 have 940 PIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
AM3 is same AM2+ but the board have DDR3 slot, but socket is the SAME !!!!

Please stop the silliness. Get your facts straight. Stop arguing, go somewhere else

[Frodin]

am3 only 938 pin!!!!!!!
i post picture already look it.

You is win! Too pinnings is miss!

[roofsniper]

Nope.... Roofsniper is correct

its not just me there are many others saying it as well. and there is proof all over the web from this. pictures, articles, more forum threads. it is a proven fact that am3 will have 938 pins.

[Nedjo]

AM2/3 have 940 PIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
AM3 is same AM2+ but the board have DDR3 slot, but socket is the SAME !!!!

how come he still didn't get banned?

[Voodoo²]

Roof, what I want to see is if the phenoms II 920 & 940 that will be launched this 8th of january have 938 pins like the one at the right in the picture you posted. IMHO that is all we need to know to solve this compatibility mess.

[charged3800z24]

Socket 938 AM3 will have higher HTT 3.1 support, AM2+ is not getting this I don't believe.. I am looking for where I found that info a while back...

[Daveburt714]

Chew* might be correct that AM3 is indeed 940 "holes" socket.So we would have(my speculation of course! ):
Sockets(: "holes"):
AM2 : 940
AM2+ : 940
AM3 : 940 (not 938)

CPUs(: pins):
AM2+ Phenom I : 940(DDR2 controller only;DDR3 listed in specs but not supported)
AM2+ Phenom II : 940(DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in AM2(+) and possibly AM3 boards if the AM3 socket is indeed 940 pin compatible and not 938pins/holes only!)
AM3 Phenom II : 938 (DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in all AM2(+)/AM3 boards since it is physically and electrically compatible with those sockets)

Speculation/ OFF

That was the point I was trying to make (not very successfully I might add) ... From the documents it looks like the DDR3 controller has been there from the very 1st Phenoms. If the AM3 Mobos actually have 940 pin sockets, reguadless of the pins on the chip there is an outside chance that even a Phenom 1 would be able to run DDR3 ram on an AM3 board, and PhII's would be even more likely to... This is just my speculation ofcourse, but it looks like the circuits have been there from the very begining..

am3 only 938 pin!!!!!!!
i post picture already look it.

Now that's funny man!

[charged3800z24]

Roof, what I want to see is if the phenoms II 920 & 940 that will be launched this 8th of january have 938 pins like the one at the right in the picture you posted. IMHO that is all we need to know to solve this compatibility mess.

from the CPU-z screen shots we have seen, they read "socket AM2+ (940)"

[Voodoo²]

Charged, I noticed that too, but is just software and is up to the author to put the correct data up there. It could be wrong and just needs an update plus it could be reading the info from the mobo not the chip. My guess is that the PII 920 & 940 have just 938 pins and they will work in AM3 mobos and this ones will have a socket for just 938 pins chips.

[informal]

I think that's the mobo info in CPU-z(socket AM2+ 940 pin).

[JohnJohn]

Chew* might be correct that AM3 is indeed 940 "holes" socket.So we would have(my speculation of course! ):
Sockets(: "holes"):
AM2 : 940
AM2+ : 940
AM3 : 940 (not 938)

CPUs(: pins):
AM2+ Phenom I : 940(DDR2 controller only;DDR3 listed in specs but not supported)
AM2+ Phenom II : 940(DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in AM2(+) and possibly AM3 boards if the AM3 socket is indeed 940 pin compatible and not 938pins/holes only!)
AM3 Phenom II : 938 (DDR2/DDR3 controller;goes in all AM2(+)/AM3 boards since it is physically and electrically compatible with those sockets)

Speculation/ OFF

Hi! just to add some wood to the speculation fire, since AM2+ Phenom II, and AM3 Phenom II both support ddr2 and ddr3, and they can be used in am2+ and am3 boards, then what is the difference betwen them ???? of course appart from the 938-940pins

Maybe higher ht link or what?

[roofsniper]

Socket 938 AM3 will have higher HTT 3.1 support, AM2+ is not getting this I don't believe.. I am looking for where I found that info a while back...

i don't think htt 3.1 is supported yet. i know the 790fx can't support it and the later rd890 doesn't seem to support it. the new phenom cpus will fully use hyper transport 3.0 which is speced to be 2.6ghz although current phenom I cpus have hyper transport speeds of 1.6, 1.8 and 2 ghz. i think i remember reading something a really long time ago that when you put in a phenom II the default nb speed and hypertransport speeds is 2.6ghz since the current chipsets actually support it but the current phenom I cpus cant. so from my understanding that am3 cpus will run the same hyper transport speed no matter which board they are in (am3 or am2+). which is another reason why i can't see why they would have two different sockets when they are the exact same. im not 100% sure about this but i asked my dad about it a few months ago.

That was the point I was trying to make (not very successfully I might add) ... From the documents it looks like the DDR3 controller has been there from the very 1st Phenoms. If the AM3 Mobos actually have 940 pin sockets, reguadless of the pins on the chip there is an outside chance that even a Phenom 1 would be able to run DDR3 ram on an AM3 board, and PhII's would be even more likely to... This is just my speculation ofcourse, but it looks like the circuits have been there from the very begining..

yea i have seen in everest that it says it supports ddr3-800 although there is no way of testing this. im a little confused on the topic because i don't know why they would put a ddr3 controller on the original phenom I. unless they have been planning this from the start so they could phase in a more powerful ddr3 controller later when they move onto am3.

[chew*]

AM3 is supposed to be even more of a performance improvement over am2+, thats all i could get out of them.

In the same token of what is the point of making an am2+ as an end of life product and thats the original question i had asked.

Chew* = Why make an am2+ variant with am3 right around the corner, the shift to a new socket would make it an end of life product and those buying an am2+ will have to start from scratch with AM3. Why not just release AM3 chips if they are backwards compatible.

AMD = Who said that.

Chew* = It's posted all over the internet with various sources.

AMD = Those are just rumours, am2+ phenom II will work fine in AM3 motherboards......

The real question is why bother releasing am2+ phenom 2 at all if am3 Phenom2 version works both ways............

Chew* = If thats the case then what advantages will am3 chips offer.

AMD = AM3 will be even more of a performance improvement.

[roofsniper]

Hi! just to add some wood to the speculation fire, since AM2+ Phenom II, and AM3 Phenom II both support ddr2 and ddr3, and they can be used in am2+ and am3 boards, then what is the difference betwen them ???? of course appart from the 938-940pins

Maybe higher ht link or what?

the am2+ supporting ddr3 is a speculation at the moment. but if it is true then i am on the same page as you because then they would be completely identical. i think the facts point towards the fact there isn't a ddr3 controller on it but its not like its very hard to change that.

[informal]

Hi JohnJohn!
Frankly I'm not sure.There are two certain changes,everything else is unknown.The changes are Vid interface(serial only with AM3) and Thermal Monitoring(TSI in AM3 as opposed to diode in AM2+ version). I still don't know if AM2+ Phenom IIs will indeed work in AM3 boards,there is a chance if AM3 boards are not 938 only(but 940 instead). The very AM2+ Phenoms II shouldn't be any different than AM3 ones in all other aspects(including IMC).

[roofsniper]

you know we really have no information on am3 which i find quite odd. there is no manufactures advertising am3 boards yet, we have not seen any 100% confirmed am3 cpuz screens yet so this whole am3 thing is up in the air really. which is very funny with the release just creeping up.

[Voodoo²]

Here it is a picture of SoF´s deneb from another thread.

http://s11b.directupload.net/file/d/...6aiced_jpg.htm

Please somebody!!! just tell us how many pins are there!!

[G0ldBr1ck]

didnt they show AM2+ and AM3 Phenom II's at the very first AMD demo? you know the one where the first 6.2Ghz LN2 info came from.

[roofsniper]

Here it is a picture of SoF´s deneb from another thread.

http://s11b.directupload.net/file/d/...6aiced_jpg.htm

Please somebody!!! just tell us how many pins are there!!

appears like 940 but that doesn't really matter we know there are 940 pin am2+ cpus and 938 pin am3 cpus. all it comes down to is if am2+ cpus have a ddr3 memory controller and if so will am3 boards have the holes to support them. because im guessing if the am2+ cpus don't have a ddr3 memory controller on them then am3 boards will not even have holes there and much less connectors so people don't put am2+ cpus into am3 mobos which would be a mess.

[Macadamia]

It's more like the AM3 is just a scapegoat for low initial NB clocks (did anyone notice?)