Replies to post #13823 on Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[dougSF30]

The die has to be different? That sounds like an expensive proposition to me. Why isn't this a programmable feature?

The FX requires registered memory, at least on current motherboards, like the Opteron.

The Athlon64 motherboards run with unbuffered memory.

Both the FX and the Athlon64 will take speeds up to PC3200 (DDR400).

Doug

[kpf]

blauboad

Its the same die. The memory specifications that can be handled by the on-die controller have been fixed some three years ago (for a planned launch date in 2002). That was before Dual-DDR came into the equation. In fact, Opteron (and FX) are not Dual-DDR capable, but 128-bit-wide-access capable (which gives pretty much same results as dual 64-bit-access) for ECC memory. 64-bit wide access (single channel) is possible without ECC.

Maybe somebody else can correct/add/clarify in a more technical way. I know in fact it is not 128-bit-access, but 1xx bit, so it is a simplified view on it.

K,

[sgolds]

blauboad, it is a matter of testing and qualification. Generally, if you require registered DIMMS, you can qualify to larger DRAM configurations. Opteron is a server chip. Make sense now?