AMD K10 - 1066 MHz DDR2 memory support?
While Intel is kneading DDR3 memories with Bearlake chipsets codenamed P35 and X38, AMD is expected to stay with DDR2 in the next family of processors and want to take advantage of the increased speed.
The quad-core Barcelona, Agena FX, and Agena processors in the K10 family will come with integrated DDR2 memory controllers that are expected to support PC2-8500 memory as well. Although international adoption of the new memory standard is yet to come, AMD hopes the new processors will be able to handle 1066 MHz clock modules without hindrance.
The news was confirmed by Bob Brewer, the vice president of AMD and the manager of AMD's desktop PC division: "we can expect the native quad-core desktop processors to arrive in the second half of 2007, AMD is planning to install the DDR2-1066 integrated memory controller in them, which is expected to be compatible in the expected future Also with JEDEC memory standards."
The new 1066 MHz clock and 78 nanometer chips have already been introduced by Micron, so we only have to wait for the right processors that will support the new standard. At the same time, we face interesting competition, as while one manufacturer sees success in the introduction of DDR3, the other is confident in the speed increase of the previous standard.
