Athlon 64 X2

Brief

Officially released at Computex on 1st of June 2005, the Athlon 64 X2 is AMD's first dual-core desktop CPU. The Athlon 64 X2 consists of two AMD Athlon 64 CPU cores joined in a single CPU die, with seperate L1 and L2 caches for each core, but sharing a common dual-channel memory controller.

The Athlon 64 X2 CPUs compete with Intel's dual-core Pentium 4 D 8xx series CPUs, which were released in May 2005.

Current Socket Format

Socket 939

• Dual Channel RAM
• Suppport for Athlon64 X2

Future Socket Format

Socket AM2 (940 pin. Formerly known as Socket M2)

• Support DDR2-800 RAM
• CPUs: Athlon64 X2 5000+ and/OR Athlon64 FX62, AND newer.
• Rumoured to be coming in June/July 2006.

NOTE: For more details, go here

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor Tech Specs

Socket 939

• 3800+ 2.0GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4200+ 2.2GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4400+ 2.2GHz w/ 1MB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4600+ 2.4GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4800+ 2.4GHz w/ 1MB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm

Socket AM2

• 3800+ 2.0GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4200+ 2.2GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 4600+ 2.4GHz w/ 512KB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm
• 5000+ 2.6GHz w/ 512MB L2 Cache-per-core, 90nm

== Motherboards known to be compatible with Athlon64 X2 (DRAFT) == ( by Stmok 15:26, 16 Jul 2005 (EST) )

If you are unsure of motherboard compatibility, please refer to the following:

AMD Motherboards: Processor Support (article by Anandtech.com)

=> http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2457&p=1

NOTE: Anandtech's article does NOT contain all solutions. It is suggested you use the above article and the following list for a comprehensive overview.

DUAL-CORE COMPATIBLE MOBO LIST

SPECIAL NOTE (About VIA K8T890 series chipset) :

VIA K8T890 chipset is incompatible with AMD Athlon 64 X2. See here for details..

Only K8T890 is affected. K8T800 series is OK with dual-core.

Regular Desktop Motherboards

Albatron

• K8SLI (since BIOS ver : R1.07a (BETA))

=> http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/it/mb/overview.asp?pro_id=190

AOpen

• AOpen nCK804Ua-LFS (since BIOS ver : R1.02)

=> http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/nCK804Ua-LFS.htm

• AOpen nCK804a-LFS (since BIOS ver : R1.02)

=> http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/nCK804a-LFS.htm

ASRock

• K8 Combo-Z (since BIOS ver : P2.10)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_k8_combo-z.htm

• 939A8X-M (since BIOS ver : P1.40)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_939A8X-M.htm

• 939S56-M (since BIOS ver : 1.00)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_939S56-M.htm

• K8Upgrade-NF3 (since BIOS ver : 1.00, requires Socket 939 CPU upgrade module)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8Upgrade-NF3.htm

• K8Upgrade-VM800 (since BIOS ver : 1.40, requires Socket 939 CPU upgrade module)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8UpgradeVM800.htm

• K8Upgrade-1689 (since BIOS ver : 1.80, requires Socket 939 CPU upgrade module)

=> http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8Upgrade-1689.htm

ASUS

• A8N-SLI Premium (Listed as officially supported by AMD) - added by pARODY

=> http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=148&model=539&modelmenu=1

• A8N-SLI Deluxe (since BIOS ver : 1010 AND Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=148&model=375&modelmenu=1

• A8N-SLI (since BIOS ver : 1008)

=> http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=382&l1=3&l2=15&l3=148

• A8N-E (since BIOS ver : 1004)

=> http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=171&model=455&modelmenu=1

• A8V Deluxe (since BIOS ver : 1013)

=> http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=238&modelmenu=1

• A8V (since BIOS ver : 0205)

=> http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=478&modelmenu=1

Chaintech

• S1689 (since BIOS ver : Beta 0523)

=> http://www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/product_spec.asp?MPSNo=13&PISNo=319

• Chaintech VNF4 / VNF4 Ultra (since BIOS ver : Beta_0518)

=> http://www.chaintech.com.tw/tw/eng/product_spec.asp?MPSNo=13&PISNo=318

DFI

• nF4 Ultra-D (Confirmed bootup screen => http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=387472 Modified with SLI function)

=> http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3471&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US

ECS

• KN1 (Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?DetailID=492&MenuID=90&LanID=0

Foxconn

WinFast NF4K8MC series (Listed as officially supported by AMD)

• NF4K8MC-ERS

=> http://199.231.128.221/products_motherboard_2.cfm?pName=NF4K8MC-ERS

• NF4K8MC-RS

=> http://199.231.128.221/products_motherboard_2.cfm?pName=NF4K8MC-RS

Gigabyte

• Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8NXP-SLI.htm

• GA-K8NXP-9 (Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://global.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8NXP-9.htm

• GA-K8NF-9 (Bios vers F6 and later listed as supporting dual core)

=> http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8NF-9.htm

• GA-K8NS Ultra939 (Bios version F5 and later listed as supporting dual core)

=> http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NS%20Ultra-939.htm

See also http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/CPUSupportList/CPUSupportList_Socket+939.htm

MSI

• K8N Neo2 Platinum (MS-7025) (since BIOS ver : 1.8 AND Listed as officially supported by MSI)

=> http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support_detail.php?UID=607&kind=1

• K8N Diamond (MS-7100) (since BIOS ver : 1.3 AND Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=638

• K8N Neo4 Platinum (MS-7125) (Listed as officially supported by AMD)

=> http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=637

Soltek

• SL-K890Pro-939 (since BIOS ver : T1.3) => SUPPORT FOR DUAL-CORE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN DUE TO CHIPSET ISSUE

=> http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/product/products_all.php?isbn_st=SL-K890Pro-939

• SL-K8TPro-939 (since BIOS ver : W1.5)

=> http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/product/products_all.php?isbn_st=SL-K8TPro-939

• Soltek SL-NF4Pro-939 (since BIOS ver : P1.1)

=> http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/product/products_all.php?isbn_st=SL-NF4Pro-939

Small Form Factor

Shuttle

• ST20G5 (since BIOS ver : FT20S00W)

=> http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/ST20G5.asp

• SN25P (FN25V1.x) (since BIOS ver : S01K)

=> http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN25P.asp

• SN95G5v3 (See link at ver 1.5.10 update in the first post).

=> Coming soon. NOTE : Model SN95G5v1 and v2, that use the FN95 V1.x and V2.x mobos respectively, have stability issues with Rev E CPUs. It may or may not work, there is NO 100% guarantee. It doesn't look like it will work with dual-core A64 X2 CPUs with 100% assurance from Shuttle. Hence, the reason of the newer revised SN95G5v3 model.

Soltek

• SL-B9D-FGR (since BIOS ver : G1.3) MOTHERBOARD ONLY

=> http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/product/products_all.php?isbn_st=SL-B9D-FGR

Sources and Links

AMD Multi-Core Technology

=> http://multicore.amd.com/Global/