Socket 940:
Socket 940 was introduced as one of the first Athlon 64 platforms. For the desktop market it ran the ultra-high end Athlon 64 FX-51 and FX-53 chips, but desktop Socket 940 chips have since been out of production. Socket 940 is now mostly reserved for the server and workstation market with the Opteron prcoessor line. All Socket 940 Opteron processors run 1MB of L2 cache. Opteron processors range from 1.4GHz (Model x46) to 2.8GHz (Model x54). Model numbers beginning with 1 are capalbe of only single processing, units beginning with 2 are capable of 2-way, and units with 8 are capable of up to 4-way and 8-way. AMD has also released dual core Opterons available on all three of the series, 100, 200, and 800, allowing for immense multi-processing capabilities.
Features:
Socket 939 was introduced not too long after Socket 940 as a cheaper alternative because Socket 940 required to use of more complicated motherboard manufacturing processes as well as allowing the use of unbuffered memory modules. Socket 939 processors are available for both the lower end (Model 3000+) and the ultra-high end (Athlon 64 FX-57). Socket 939 is NOT capable of multiprocessing like Socket 940. AMD's dual core processors, the Athlon 64 X2 line, is now avaialable on Socket 939 with models ranging from 3800+ (each core 2.0GHz, 512KB of L2 cache each core) to 4800+ (each core 2.4GHz, 1MB of L2 cache each core) AMD has recently introduced the Opteron 100 series on Socket 939 as well as a more economical single processor server and workstation platform. These new Opterons utilize the San Diego core and feature the same specifications
Features:
Socket 754 was the first Athlon 64 platform introduced and continues to live on to this day. Socket 754 motherboards are the cheapest to produce becayse they use 4-layer PCB boards as opposed to the 6-layer PCB of Socket 939. Socket 754 also offers budget priced CPUs (Model 2800+) as well as extreme higher performance units (model 3700+).
Features:
** - Requires a motherboard with 2 PCI Express x16 form factor graphics slots and video cards that support SLi.
Performance Difference
Due to the on-die memory controller and the short data pipelines, the K8 processors are anything but starved for memory bandwidth. What this means is that the dual channel memory bus of Socket 939 and 940 offers almost meaingless performance gains over the single channel memory bus of Socket 754, with differences often less than 3%. The dual channel memory bus exists for when the dual core processors arrive because there will be two complete K8 Processors on a single die, but only one memory controller so the two processors will have to "share" the memory bandwidth, so if single channel memory is enough for one core, logically, dual channel memory would be ideal for dual cores. The Difference in HyperTransport bus speeds between Socket 939 and 754 is negligible because the HTT bus does little more than connect the processor to chipset and the 800Mhz bus is more than fast enough for that process. Instead, HyperTransport becomes most useful on Socket 940 where it acts as a direct, high-speed link for processor to processor communication in multi-processor systems. Ultimately, the performance difference between Socket 754 and 939 is not there, they are in essence identicle when it comes to performance. On top of that fact, on Socket 754 you can purchase Mobile and DTR processors to run in a desktop computer which offer the user 1MB of L2 cache over the 512K of Socket 939 processors, with the exception of the FX series and 4000+, and very good overclockability. So, in my opinion at least, the only reason to buy Socket 939 is to run SLi or dual core systems.
Socket 940 was introduced as one of the first Athlon 64 platforms. For the desktop market it ran the ultra-high end Athlon 64 FX-51 and FX-53 chips, but desktop Socket 940 chips have since been out of production. Socket 940 is now mostly reserved for the server and workstation market with the Opteron prcoessor line. All Socket 940 Opteron processors run 1MB of L2 cache. Opteron processors range from 1.4GHz (Model x46) to 2.8GHz (Model x54). Model numbers beginning with 1 are capalbe of only single processing, units beginning with 2 are capable of 2-way, and units with 8 are capable of up to 4-way and 8-way. AMD has also released dual core Opterons available on all three of the series, 100, 200, and 800, allowing for immense multi-processing capabilities.
Features:
- 200x5 = 1000MHz (2000MHz effective) Hyper-Transport bus speed (earlier borads utilized a 800MHz, 1600MHz effective, Hyper-Transport bus
- On-die 128-bit 16-bit ECC dual channel DDR400 memory controller (NOTE: Socket 940 REQUIRES the use of registered memory modules)
- Multi-processing capable up to 8-way (8 processors)
- Fully compliant with Dual Core processors
- PCI Express Bus*
- nVidia's SLi feature**
Socket 939 was introduced not too long after Socket 940 as a cheaper alternative because Socket 940 required to use of more complicated motherboard manufacturing processes as well as allowing the use of unbuffered memory modules. Socket 939 processors are available for both the lower end (Model 3000+) and the ultra-high end (Athlon 64 FX-57). Socket 939 is NOT capable of multiprocessing like Socket 940. AMD's dual core processors, the Athlon 64 X2 line, is now avaialable on Socket 939 with models ranging from 3800+ (each core 2.0GHz, 512KB of L2 cache each core) to 4800+ (each core 2.4GHz, 1MB of L2 cache each core) AMD has recently introduced the Opteron 100 series on Socket 939 as well as a more economical single processor server and workstation platform. These new Opterons utilize the San Diego core and feature the same specifications
Features:
- 200x5 = 1000MHz (2000MHz effective) HyperTransport bus speed
- On-die 128-bit 16-bit ECC dual channel DDR400 memory controller
- Fully compliant with Dual Core processors
- PCI Express Bus*
- nVidia's SLi feature**
Socket 754 was the first Athlon 64 platform introduced and continues to live on to this day. Socket 754 motherboards are the cheapest to produce becayse they use 4-layer PCB boards as opposed to the 6-layer PCB of Socket 939. Socket 754 also offers budget priced CPUs (Model 2800+) as well as extreme higher performance units (model 3700+).
Features:
- 200x4 = 800Mhz (1600MHz effective) HyperTransport bus speed
- On-die 64-bit 8-bit ECC single channel DDR400 memory controller
- PCI Express Bus*
- nVidia's SLi feature**
** - Requires a motherboard with 2 PCI Express x16 form factor graphics slots and video cards that support SLi.
Performance Difference
Due to the on-die memory controller and the short data pipelines, the K8 processors are anything but starved for memory bandwidth. What this means is that the dual channel memory bus of Socket 939 and 940 offers almost meaingless performance gains over the single channel memory bus of Socket 754, with differences often less than 3%. The dual channel memory bus exists for when the dual core processors arrive because there will be two complete K8 Processors on a single die, but only one memory controller so the two processors will have to "share" the memory bandwidth, so if single channel memory is enough for one core, logically, dual channel memory would be ideal for dual cores. The Difference in HyperTransport bus speeds between Socket 939 and 754 is negligible because the HTT bus does little more than connect the processor to chipset and the 800Mhz bus is more than fast enough for that process. Instead, HyperTransport becomes most useful on Socket 940 where it acts as a direct, high-speed link for processor to processor communication in multi-processor systems. Ultimately, the performance difference between Socket 754 and 939 is not there, they are in essence identicle when it comes to performance. On top of that fact, on Socket 754 you can purchase Mobile and DTR processors to run in a desktop computer which offer the user 1MB of L2 cache over the 512K of Socket 939 processors, with the exception of the FX series and 4000+, and very good overclockability. So, in my opinion at least, the only reason to buy Socket 939 is to run SLi or dual core systems.
Old Dog, New Tricks
(15 items) |
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Old Dog, New Tricks
(15 items) |
