AMD to Prolong the Life of the AM3+ Socket - Report

AMD seems interested in prolonging the life of the recently launched AM3+ socket, as the latest reports to come to light suggest the Sunnyvale-based company will retain this socket for their second generation of desktop CPUs based on the Bulldozer architecture.

The first pieces of information to make their appearance in June of this year suggested that these chips would be using a new socket which goes by the name of FMX.

However, it now seems like these CPUs will actually plug into the same AM3+ socket as the upcoming FX-Series processors, as two separate reports on 4Gamers and Xbit Labs seem to agree on this point.

What the two sources don't seem to conform on is the names of the features of these processors, as one source says AMD's next-generation Bulldozer platform will be called Corona, while the other says this was canceled in favor of a new platform that goes by the name of Volan.

The first AM3+ motherboards were officially announced during the Computex 2011 fair and are part of the Scorpio platform, which also includes the AMD FX-Series desktop processors.

The socket is a slightly improved version the the much more popular AM3, which was launched in February of 2009, and introduces a series of new features.

One of the most important is the ability to deliver up to 145A of current to the CPU, compared to 110A for AM3, a change that should increase the overclocking potential of motherboards using it as well as eliminate any power shortages that could appear when more energy hungry processors are being used.

In addition, the AM3+ socket also comes with a series of revised electrical specifications, such as support for a different VID, a more advanced load-line design that minimizes vDroop by monitoring the electrical loads placed on the CPU, and lower electrical noise.

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