Athlon 64 - Sockets

Sockets

• Socket 754: The Athlon 64 value/budget line, 64-bit memory interface (Single-Channel)
• Socket 939: Athlon 64 performance line, Athlon 64 X2s, and newer Athlon 64 FXs, Opteron, 128-bit memory interface (Dual-channel)
• Socket 940: Opteron and old Athlon 64 FX, 128-bit memory interface - requires registered DDR memory
• Socket AM2: Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64 X2/Sempron, 940 Pins (Not compatible with Socket 940); the first AMD socket to use DDR2 SDRAM.
• Socket F: Opteron, 1207 Pins
• Socket F (1207 FX): Athlon 64 FX on AMD Quad FX platform, also compatible for dual-processor Opteron 2200 series

At the introduction of Athlon 64 in September 2003, only Socket 754 and Socket 940 (Opteron) were ready and available. The onboard memory controller was not capable of running unbuffered (non-registered) memory in dual-channel mode at the time of release; as a stopgap measure, they introduced the Athlon 64 on Socket 754, and brought out a non-multiprocessor version of the Opteron called the Athlon 64 FX, as a multiplier unlocked enthusiast part for Socket 940, comparable to Intel's Pentium 4 Extreme Edition for the high end market.

In June 2004, AMD released Socket 939 as the mainstream Athlon 64 with dual-channel memory interface, leaving Socket 940 solely for the server market (Opterons), and relegating Socket 754 as a value/budget line, for Semprons and slower versions of the Athlon 64. Eventually Socket 754 replaced Socket A for Semprons.

In May 2006, AMD released Socket AM2, which provided support for the DDR2 memory interface. Also, this marked the release of AMD-V.

In August 2006, AMD released Socket F for Opteron server CPU which uses the LGA chip form factor.

In November 2006, AMD released a specialized version of Socket F, called 1207 FX, for dual-socket, dual-core Athlon FX processors on the Quad FX platform. While Socket F Opterons already allowed for four processor cores, Quad FX allowed unbuffered RAM and expanded CPU/chipset configuration in the BIOS. Consequentially, Socket F and F 1207 FX are incompatible and require different processors, chipsets, and motherboards.