Curious to what degree has DDR2 memory aided AMD's latest Socket AM2 processors? Wait no more as the results are in from our extended round of testing and we've got the answers for you. It might just surprise you.
Just how useful or pivotal had the adoption of DDR2 memory been to their top AM2 processors? There was no one processor in AMD's current lineup to pit the flagship AM2 processor against. To answer this interesting question, we overclocked the Athlon 64 FX-60 (Socket-939 using DDR memory) to 2.8GHz and then set it against the Athlon 64 FX-62 processor. Remember, at a clock speed of 2.8GHz, the FX-60 is almost identical to the new FX-62 processor, with the exception that the former uses DDR memory while the FX-62 obviously uses DDR2 memory.
In essence, this is an FX-62 on Socket-939 versus an FX-62 on Socket AM2. Since the upper echelon of AM2 processors support memory frequencies as high as DDR2-800, we used low latency Corsair XMS memory of this speed grade whereas the Socket-939 based FX-60 was paired with low latency DDR-400 memory. Basically, we used the best speed grade available for both Socket platforms to keep the comparison objective. Below then are the complete test bed setups for both systems; do have them in mind as we proceed to the benchmarks segment immediately after:-
HardwareZone
Just how useful or pivotal had the adoption of DDR2 memory been to their top AM2 processors? There was no one processor in AMD's current lineup to pit the flagship AM2 processor against. To answer this interesting question, we overclocked the Athlon 64 FX-60 (Socket-939 using DDR memory) to 2.8GHz and then set it against the Athlon 64 FX-62 processor. Remember, at a clock speed of 2.8GHz, the FX-60 is almost identical to the new FX-62 processor, with the exception that the former uses DDR memory while the FX-62 obviously uses DDR2 memory.
In essence, this is an FX-62 on Socket-939 versus an FX-62 on Socket AM2. Since the upper echelon of AM2 processors support memory frequencies as high as DDR2-800, we used low latency Corsair XMS memory of this speed grade whereas the Socket-939 based FX-60 was paired with low latency DDR-400 memory. Basically, we used the best speed grade available for both Socket platforms to keep the comparison objective. Below then are the complete test bed setups for both systems; do have them in mind as we proceed to the benchmarks segment immediately after:-
HardwareZone
