AMD plans to bring about a gradual transition with its desktop quad-core Phenom chips. Contradicting roadmap slides, Taiwanese industry observer DigiTimes has come up with fresh rumours that AMD could release a pair of AM2+ exclusive Deneb 45nm quad-core processors towards the end of this year. Their clock-speeds could range between 2.60 to 3.00 GHz and TDP ratings at 125W. Meanwhile AM3 designs would surface for manufacturing of both the processors and supportive motherboards that feature DDR3 memory support. It is expected that my May thru June next year, there will be enough AM3 based products in the market for AMD to stop producing any more of these "AM2+ only" Deneb chips. Earlier projections based on company slides showed the two chips coming up in January.

Without doubt, AMD needs something revolutionary to pull it out of the mess it set itself in. AMD's first reaction to the Conroe onslaught was to lower prices and build up a "Smarter Choice" repute, though with successive price cuts from Intel and down-scale products based on the Core architecture coming out by the fortnight, and the transit to 45nm fab process, there's been an increasing need for AMD to get back to the drawing boards with their CPU division.

From what looks like an excerpt from an AMD company slide, can be seen AMD's CPU plans for 2009. The chart broadly shows that K10 architecture is here to stay. Throughout the year, desktop CPUs based on the K10 architecture feature in the roadmap, with no signs of their "truly next-gen" architecture. AMD completes its transit to the 45nm silicon fabrication process and will finally embrace DDR3 system memory standards. To begin with, the fact that the Deneb core's entry slightly steps into the 2008 column shows that the Deneb core-based desktop CPU could release sometime towards the very end of this year. Sources note that two models based on the Deneb core could be out by the end of this year. It supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards and socket compatible with current AM2+ and future AM3. From what's known so far, AM3 is the same 940 pin design that adds pins for the DDR3 memory interconnect between the CPU and the memory.

As of today, AMD is close to over a year and a half behind Intel with the implementation of the DDR3 system memory standard, and it doesn't look like we are going to see a DDR3 AMD platform only until late this year or early next year. Chilian website CHW.net published slides of the roadmaps for AMD chipsets in the months to come, also published are slides refering to the details of the next generation southbridge by AMD, even though the latest entry, the SB700 is only teething and only the latest motherboards with 7-Series chipsets feature this.

AM3, the official socket successor to AM2(+), will give AMD users access to DDR3 RAM, 45nm AM3 processors, and all sorts of other goodies. It should come around sometime in 2008, with true AM3 processors coming in the second half of next year. This chart should explain a lot of questions you may have about the AMD platform. And without further ado, enjoy.

Currently if you want to upgrade from an AMD processor older than the AM2 socket you're going to have to buy a new motherboard. This means that while the prices of the processors themselves may be enticing, the prospect of potentially changing your entire system may change your mind. However, with its AM2+ and AM3 CPUs AMD will be ensuring that they are backwards compatible with current motherboards thus when Phenom finally hits the streets socket AM2, Athlon 64 X2 and FX owners will be able to purchase the new model without changing motherboards.

AMD schedules to launch its 45nm process socket AM3 family processors in the second half of 2008. The processors will support HyperTransport 3.0 and will have a built-in DDR2/DDR3 memory controller. The processors will be backwards compatible with the previous AM2 and AM2+ socket motherboards, according to sources at motherboard makers.

AMD's AM3 family will include the quad-core Deneb and DenebFX, dual-core Propus and Regor, and single-core Sargas. Shipments of 45nm products are predicted to surpass those of 65nm products within half a year from launch, noted the sources.

Although Socket AM3 processors will be backwards compatible with previous socket AM2 and AM2+ motherboards, socket AM3 motherboards will not be able to support the previous socket AM2 and AM2+ processors. Therefore shipment volumes of socket AM3 motherboards will depend on the speed of transition to DDR3 memory, added the sources.