14 DAY TRIAL // AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) will launch its new CPUs (Central Processing Unit) at the end of the second quarter of 2006, claims an analysis company called DRAMeXchange. According to the report, the ramp of the chips that will support DDR2 will be as fast as AMD's plans to launch chips that will support DDR2, for different market segments, including desktops and laptops. Analysts expect that these moves will happen at the same time.
According to the DRAMeXchange report, AMD will commercially launch the processors that support DDR2 only after April 2006, these CPUs representing 25% of all the desktop and mobile deliveries of 2006's second half. AMD should deliver to its OEMs the processors that support DDR2, while the market has a positive limited impact.
The new AMD CPUs, both desktop and mobile, that have built in DDR2 controllers will need a new infrastructure, meaning sockets and motherboards. Most of the processors manufactured by AMD are for desktops, meaning, according to the report, that the new chips will have reasonable prices. AMD announced that it will launch DDR2 CPUs, including the high end AMD Athlon FX chips and the entry level AMD Sempron for different market segments, in the next 12 months.
For the uni-processor workstations and also for the desktops, AMD seems to ready the so-called Socket M2, that will have 940 pins, but won't be compatible with the actual Socket 940 infrastructure. It is said the Socket M2 will be used for AMD Sempron, AMD Athlon 64, AMD Athlon FX and for the AMD Opteron 100 series, replacing the actual Socket 754, Socket 939 and Socket 940.
As for the multiprocessor servers, AMD develops a 1027 pin Socket F, which will replace the Socket 940. For portable computers, AMD is expected to offer Socket S1, with 638 pins, which will replace the actual Socket 754.