Intel VS. AMD : AMD'S Line UP
AMD'S LINE UP
AMD's back with another installment of their Athlon 64 processor. This time they introduce the Athlon 64 in it's new 939-pin packaging. This socket is designed to unify the Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX lines into one socket that is compatible with both processors. Below you'll see the new Athlon 64 3800+ in the 939-pin package. Below that is an image of all three of the still supported Athlon 64 pin packages. You can see that the 939-pin socket is almost identical to the original 940-pin socket and the only difference is the omission of a single pin in the lower-left corner.
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (939-pin) Top AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (939-pin) Bottom
Athlon 64 Packages
(Click to Enlarge)
As mentioned, AMD is still supporting all three sockets, so users with any socketed board should have some upgrades for at least a little while longer. The point of this new socket is to support dual-channel memory on Athlon 64 processors which is lacking on 754-pin processors. Here's a table of AMD's current product line:
There are some variations on new chips coming out on the 'Net. This table represents AMD's official line-up. If purchasing a processor, just be sure to verify the specs of what you're ordering. You never know when a new chip may slip in on you. AMD needs to work on keeping their list up-to-date with what's shipping.
Below is the block diagram of the chipset we'll be using in this review. The VIA K8T800 Pro is an update to their K8T800 chipset which ups the speed of their HyperTransport link from the chipset to the processor from 800MHz to 1GHz. They also added the ability to make the bus clocks asynchronous in order to aid in system optimization and overclocking. Many readers have asked for a look at a VIA-based motherboard in a review and we believe that the performance you'll see out of this board below will impress you.
DFI NF3 250 GB LAN PATRY MAIN BOARD
ABOVE THE PROCESSOR BLOCK : 3 SINGLE CHANNEL RAM CARD SLOTTS.
TO THE RIGHT OF THE PROCESSOR BLOCK : 1 AGP 8X VIDEO CARD SLOTT
