14 DAY TRIAL // You might have seen those announcements of small form factor motherboards from MSI and ASRock that bear the AM1 socket. The reason they are happening is because Advanced Micro Devices has finally introduced the AM1 platform for Kabini APUs.
In truth, the AM1 socket existed before, as the FS1b socket, but the Sunnyvale, California-based company decided it was time for a name change and, with it, to take on a new image.
Given that AMD used AM3/AM3+ in the past, albeit for high-end instead of low-end CPU sockets, it's not that surprising to see a move like this.
Before we actually go any further, let us just say now that AMD has not actually launched the new Kabini APUs.
It did say they would sell under the Athlon and Sempron brands, which means that there won't only be CPUs under those names anymore.
But it didn't actually mention any by name, though it did provide the general specifications. That means that the full disclosure will happen only in April 2014, next month.
So what do we know about the upcoming Sempron and Athlon chips? Officially, that they support up to 16 GB of DDR3-1600 memory and that they will have two or four cores (Jaguar).
Also, they support Windows XP, 7, 8.1 32-bit & 64-bit operating systems. Furthermore, they will have GCN integrated graphics (Graphics Core Next), plus an I/O controller with two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0 connectors, and three video outputs (VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort).
Advanced Micro Devices even included a list of supporting motherboards, present and future, that have AM1 sockets, from ASRock, MSI, Biostar, Gigabyte, and ECS.
And that's it. Fortunately, we still have some older leaks to draw upon, so we can, in fact, provide the details (though still unconfirmed) about three of the approaching processors.
For example, there's the Sempron 3850, a 1.3 GHz quad-core with 2 MB cache, HD 8280 graphics at 450 MHz, and a price is of $39 / €39.
Another unit is the Sempron 2650, a dual-core with 1.45 GHz clock, 1 MB cache, HD 8240 integrated graphics at 400 MHz, and a price of $35 / €35.
The third and best Kabini AM1 chip we've found so far is the Athlon 5150, a 1.6 GHz quad-core with 2 MB cache, HD 8400 graphics at 600 MHz, and a price of $45 / €45.
Keep in mind that the prices here are those found for early pre-orders, last month. They may very well turn out to be lower come April.
