AMD Socket M2 platform to be launched with Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and FX-62

AMD is finishing its DDR2-based Socket M2 Athlon 64 platform. This platform will be launched in Q2 2006 and it will be launched with 12 Athlon 64, X2, FX and Sempron M2 processors.

The company is planning to launch its Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and Athlon 64 FX-62 processors together with the new M2 platform.

All Socket M2 processors will be based on a common DDR2 memory controller that is validated for 333 MHz operation (DDR2-667), with only the cache size and clock speed differentiating the individual processors. There will be 2 x 1 MB or 2 x 512 KB L2 cache for the dual cores, 512 KB L2 cache for the single core Athlon 64 models and 256 KB for the Sempron series. While Intel's chipset specifications officially support 4 clock CAS latencies for DDR2-667 memory only, there is some headroom for AMD to optimize the memory interface for CAS 3. This circumstance could become significant, as the performance difference between the current Socket 939 processors and their upcoming Socket M2 counterparts will be rather small, according to sources.

More details about AMD's Socket M2 plans can be read at TG Daily.