There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye, because AM3 is the form-factor that AMD will use on its next batch of consumer processors that are imbued with a hybrid DDR2/DDR3 memory-controller.
AMD's 45nm-based Phenom II CPUs launched with AM2+ support, meaning interfacing with motherboards using DDR2 memory. Now, hot on their heels, evidently, are a raft of new Phenom IIs with support for higher-speed DDR3.
MSI has been one of the first tier-one manufacturers to let slip - deliberately, most likely - that AM3 is coming real soon, as its 790-series range is being supplemented with the 790FX-GD70 and 790GX-G65.
Trotting out their vital specs:
790GX-G65
•
AMD 790GX/SB750 Chipset
• Supports AMD Socket AM3 (941-pin) Phenom™ II /
Athlon™ processor
• 2 x PCI-E x16 slots support ATI CrossFireX™ /
Hybrid CrossFireX™ Technology
• Supports four dual-channel DDR3 1333 memory slots up to 16GB
• APS(Active Phase Switching)
• 10/100/1000 Mb/s LAN Port
• High-quality 7.1-channel audio
• 5 SATAII and 1 eSATA hard disk interface, support RAID
0/1/0+1/5
• 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI slots
• 12 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE1394a (optional)
790FX-GD70
•
AMD 790FX/SB750 Chipset
• Supports AMD Socket AM3 (941-pin) Phenom™ II /
Athlon™ processor
• 4 x PCI-E x16 slots support ATI CrossFireX™
Technology
• Supports four dual-channel DDR3 1333 memory slots up to 16GB
• DrMOS
• APS(Active Phase Switching)
• Dual 10/100/1000 Mb/s LAN Ports
• High-quality 7.1-channel audio
• 8 SATAII and 1 eSATA hard disk interface, support RAID
0/1/0+1/5
• 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI slots
• 12 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE1394a
Analysis
Both boards support Phenom II (AM3) CPUs with DDR3 memory running up to 1,333MHz. No doubt we'll see higher speeds made available through the BIOS, but at least we can infer that AMD will roll this speed-grade out of the gate.
The 790FX also has provision for four PCIe x16 slots, although they can't run at x16 concurrently with four cards in situ, and the exact layout has yet to be determined. The rest of specification indicates the board's high-end credentials.
The integrated graphics version, 790GX-G65, will ship with many of the same features, but will also add 1GB DDR3 SidePort memory for enhanced IGP performance. DVI, HDMI, D-Sub will be supported, as will Hybrid CrossFireX.
Of course, we could conjecture all day long about which CPUs AMD plans to release in the very near future, but let's just say that this list won't be too far wrong.
