DDR3 Phenoms Could Boost Performance by 5 Percent

It seems that Advanced Micro Devices' upcoming Phenom II processors, which will come with DDR3 and AM3 socket support, are able to boost the overall performance of the computer with almost 5 percent. Of course, this is something that was to be expected, as most DDR3 platforms are able to run a little faster. Even so, there are some that might consider the ultra-cheap DDR2 memory modules a better acquisition, as the performance gain is not that great overall.

On the other hand, the upcoming AM3 chipset is reported not to be too much of an overclocker. It is rumored to be able to offer the same overclocking capabilities for DDR2, while the memory controller will be inside the CPU. The problem is that the ready-to-come Phenom II Deneb-based chips include both the DDR3 and the DDR2 memory controllers, which would basically mean that the processor will work with DDR3 if on an AM3 chipset, while being stuck with DDR2 on an AM2+ platform.

The Phenom II AM3 chips are the only ones that are expected to experience this issue, as the first AM2+ processors that will be launched will only support DDR2. As already reported, the next-generation Phenom II DDR3 chips and the supporting platforms are slated for a February launch.

In related news, we learn that AMD might launch its new dual-core chips at higher-than-expected core speeds. As said before, the upcoming Phenom II X4 chip will feature a 3GHz core frequency, while the future Kuma K10 65nm CPU will only top 2.7GHz.

According to recent news, the dual-core Regor chip, manufactured under the 45nm process technology, will actually sport 3GHz or higher core speed. The higher speed might be just a rumor at the moment, yet we've already seen that AMD has in store a nice range of competitive products, and the company may surprise us once again.