Desmond wrote:
> Can someone explain the diffrence between CPU's I can't afford to
> upgrade to DDR2 at the moment so I wanted to do it in stages. The A8V-
> VM supports Athlon 64 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core . so
> does the AM2. The problem is when I look at the Asus site for CPU
> support. there seems to be a bit of a conflict
>
> A8V-VM supports
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CG version) (Socket939)
> Athlon 64 3500+ (rev.D) (Socket939)
> Athlon 64 3500+ (rev.E3) (Socket939)
> Athlon 64 3500+ (rev.E4) (Socket939)
> Athlon 64 3500+ (rev.E6) (Socket939)
>
> The AM2 supports
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CN),512K,rev.F2,35W,SocketAM2
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CN),512K,rev.F2,62W,SocketAM2
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CW),512K,rev.F2,62W,SocketAM2
> Athlon 64 3500+ (DE),512K,rev.G,45W,SocketAM2
> Athlon 64 3500+ (DH),512K,rev.F3,62W,SocketAM2
>
> The problem is the revisions. There is no
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CN) in the A8V-VM and no
> Athlon 64 3500+ (CG version) in the AM2
>
> are the CPUs interchangeable ?
>
S939 and AM2 sockets are two different types. They are not interchangeable.
S939 processors have a memory controller that drives DDR memory, so the
memory used on the motherboard must be DDR. AM2 processors have a memory
controller that drives DDR2 memory, which means you need a new motherboard
to run them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_939
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_Am2
If you compare the closeup views from the above two web pages, you'll notice
that the pinouts are different enough, that swapping is not possible.
The S939 memory controller runs at 2.5V and the AM2 memory controller runs at 1.8V -
different voltages.
Processor socket, memory type, and motherboard are all tied together with
Athlon64.
On an Intel motherboard, things are different. The memory controller is
inside the Northbridge chip on the motherboard. You can get Intel motherboards
for LGA775 socket, that support DDR2 or support DDR3 for example. That is
because the Intel processor doesn't have the memory interface inside the
processor, while the AMD one does.
Paul