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AMD and PCI-Express
I was given a (tentative) to market date of August by a AMD exec a few month back, as I mentioned at the time. Well, getting about that time, so I'm going to have a did and see what's what.
Here's a few tidbits...
AMD: "AMD: "Socket 939-based motherboards are expected to usher in the next-generation of platform innovations like: ... Upcoming PCI-Express graphics solutions."
The Register: ATI's RS480 is an AMD 939 thang - PCI Express Athlon chipset competitor
The Inquirer: How AMD positions FXs, Athlon 64s and Semprons - Roadmaps
These have a comment on the ASRock board too. (See below).
Here's the salient quotes from the article, I thought:
"Athlon XP is not long for this world, and AMD is moving the Sempron into place to displace the now ancient chip"
"The majority of Athlon 64s and higher speed Semprons will use Socket 754, while the very top end chips, that is to say the first two slabs above, are 939 pin babies"
ATI's offering looks to be in the form of an ATI RS480, with onboard graphics
ALi have a chipset lined up too. (no info to date)
This is one you'll want to read: SiS 756 chipset for Athlon 64 FX's
Similarly, ( )Via have the KT890 for AMD and the PT890 for Intel.
VIA North Bridge solutions such as the PT890 for the Intel processor platform, and the K8T890 for the AMD processor platform, feature twenty PCI Express lanes, with 250MB/s of bandwidth per lane. PCI Express graphics will utilize 16 of these lanes for a dedicated 4GB/s connection. The remaining four PCI Express lanes in the VIA North Bridge provide 1GB/s bandwidth for two further PCI Express devices.
By pairing the PT890 or K8T890 chipsets with the forthcoming VT8251 South Bridge, system designers will be able to incorporate a further two PCI Express lanes for PCI Express devices, such as Gigabit Ethernet connections, bringing the total number of PCI Express lanes supported to 22.
Also check out AMD Boards.com on 939 m/b's
Can't decide? Hanging on the fence? Maybe ASRocks K8 combo is the answer ...
Nopt tried it myself, but ASRock do have a good reputation. Here's what they have to say...
"... Based on the elaborate future-proof CPU socket combo design, ASRock K8 Combo motherboard collocates both Socket 754 and Socket 939 CPU architectures on a single motherboard; users can easily upgrade their PC system from Socket 754 CPU (Athlon64) to Socket 939 CPU (Athlon64 FX) without changing the motherboard."
Basically, plentify of reference boards and words, but no product on the market.
I can found out with a phonecall, but I rather suspect Abit will release a board early in September. Looks like ASRock will pip them at the post mind.
You can never be too paranoid!
I was having a lie down when two lads walked past and one says to the other:
"... that mark means it's been warchalked..."
Meep!!!
I shot out of bed and checked the house for the nefarious logos. Phew, All clear! Just to be safe I checked the routers firmware page and uploaded this months security patches and changed the passwords again.
For those of you that don't know, if means some no-mark running or driving (or even flying around - literally) and marking houses, offices and buildings with unsecure networks. Then the toe-rags tell all their mates and, pretty much, are free to steal your bandwidth, browse your shared files or worse, depending how good they are.
The mark incidentally is a bit like this - )( - like two letter C's back to back. Needless to say there's other marks, feel free to Google the topic.
"It doesn't matter, I have nothing to steal"
"It's just a bit of a laugh, there aren't doing any harm..."
Noooo, if they decide that a bit of a laugh includes trying to hack the FBI, guess who IP is on the records. The hackers, nah...
If they are good hackers (admittedly a very rare breed) and they don't like you, you are screwed. They geek you bullied in school... Piece of cake to drop a few files on your system, maybe virus code, them cause a little mayhem and deliberately leave a trail to your door....
"Wasn't me guv!"
"Tell that to the judge, sunny, you're nicked. Got you bang to rights!"
Scaremongering? Yep, absolutely. At the very, very least, it's will affect your connectivity. Me? I'd rather be safe that sorry.
