14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS, one of the leading manufacturers of high-performance motherboards, has recently made public a list from its current motherboard lineup that will be capable of supporting AMD's upcoming desktop processors. These new processors will be built to work on socket AM3-enabled motherboards. Fortunately, some of the ASUS motherboard owners will be lucky enough to have their motherboard provide support for the new AMD CPUs, with just a simple BIOS update.
With the inevitable launch of Intel's next-generation desktop processors, the Core i7s, some may have forgotten that AMD is also set to unveil its next-generation processor range, which will bring about new features, including the 45nm process technology, support for DDR3 and C1E halt states for advanced power savings. However, one of the most significant changes provided by the upcoming AMD central processing units is the support for AM3 socket, which will be featured on almost all of the upcoming AMD-supporting motherboards.
However, unlike Intel's next-generation desktop platform, AMD's AM3 socket will be backward compatible with the AM2 and AM2+ sockets, which basically means that your old AM2 motherboard has a good chance of supporting the next-generation 45nm-based AMD processors.
Mobos from ASUS' M3 and M2 series will only require the user to update the system's BIOS, thus enabling the necessary support for the new AM3 processors. However, what is even more interesting about the announcement is that it tells us that we are getting close to the unveiling of AMD's new DDR3-supporting CPUs.
As a matter of fact, these AM3 CPUs are likely to hit stores in time for the Christmas holidays, thus providing users with an AMD alternative to Intel's Core i7 processors. Sure, we still have to wait for the first reviews to appear, which is when we will also be able to tell if Intel still remains the market leader, or whether AMD will finally manage to bridge the gap that separates them.