AM3+ is a modification of the
AM3 Socket, released in mid-2011, designed for CPUs which use the
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...
Bulldozer
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
and retains compatibility with AM3 processors. The
Vishera Vishera may refer to:
* Vishera FX-series CPU, codename for a line of CPU by AMD
* Vishera Nature Reserve, in Perm Krai, Russia
* Malaya Vishera
Malaya Vishera (russian: Ма́лая Ви́шера) is a town and the administrative center of Ma ...
line of AMD CPUs also all use Socket AM3+. It is the last AMD socket for which
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
support officially exists.
Technical specifications
The AM3+ Socket specification contains a few noteworthy design changes over its AM3 predecessor. The 942 pin count for the AM3+ is an increase of one compared to the AM3 Socket layout. The AM3+ Socket has larger pin socket diameter of 0.51
mm compared to 0.45 mm with the AM3 Socket. There is a faster
serial link
In telecommunication and data transmission, serial communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time, sequentially, over a communication channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communication, where several bits are ...
of 3400 kHz from the CPU to the power controller, compared to 400 kHz. The AM3+ Socket offers improved power regulation and power quality specifications, including an increased maximum current support of 145
A versus 110 A. There is also a redesigned CPU cooler retention harness allowing for slightly better airflow for CPU cooling, while retaining cooler
backward compatibility
Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially i ...
.
Some manufacturers have brought AM3+ support to some of their AM3 motherboards via a simple
BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...
upgrade. Mechanical compatibility has been confirmed and it is possible for AM3+ CPUs to fit in AM3 boards, provided they can supply enough peak current. Another issue is the use of the sideband temperature sensor interface for reading the temperature from the CPU. Therefore, some CPU PWM fan headers may only run at full speed. Also, certain power-saving features may not work, due to lack of support for rapid
VCORE switching.
While AM3+ CPUs are technically pin-compatible with AM2 or AM2+ boards, they cannot work with them due to the DDR3 controller on the CPU being incompatible with the DDR2 memory taken by AM2 boards.
Heatsink
The 4 holes for fastening the heatsink to the motherboard are placed in a rectangle with lateral lengths of 48 mm and 96 mm for AMD's sockets
Socket AM2
The Socket AM2, renamed from Socket M2 (to prevent using the same name as Cyrix MII processors), is a CPU socket designed by AMD for desktop processors, including the performance, mainstream and value segments. It was released on May 23, 2006, as ...
,
Socket AM2+
Socket AM2+ is a CPU socket, which is the immediate successor to Socket AM2 that is used by several AMD processors such as Athlon 64 X2. Socket AM2+ is a mid-migration from Socket AM2 to Socket AM3 and both AM2+ and AM2 socket CPUs and motherboa ...
,
Socket AM3
Socket AM3 is a CPU socket for AMD processors. AM3 was launched on February 9, 2009 as the successor to Socket AM2+, alongside the initial grouping of Phenom II processors designed for it. The sole principal change from AM2+ to AM3 is support for ...
, Socket AM3+ and
Socket FM2
Socket FM2 is a CPU socket used by AMD's desktop ''Trinity'' and ''Richland'' APUs to connect to the motherboard as well as Athlon X2 and Athlon X4 processors based on them. FM2 was launched on September 27, 2012. Motherboards which fea ...
. Cooling solutions should therefore be interchangeable.
See also
*
List of AMD FX microprocessors
AMD FX is a series of AMD microprocessors for personal computers. The following is a list of AMD FX brand microprocessors. Some APUs also carry an FX model name, but the term "FX" normally only refers to CPUs which are not just APUs with the iGP ...
*
List of AMD chipsets
This is an overview of chipsets sold under the AMD brand, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Technologies after October 2006 as the completi ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=July 2019
AMD sockets