Final Thoughts

It has been a long time coming; AMD has taken its time to support DDR3 and with good reason. DDR3 has been and still is more expensive than similar density DDR2 modules. However, this should soon change with the demand for DDR3 increasing with AM3 based processors.

From the looks of our results, AMD K10 is a good leap in performance, but it certainly isn't what is required to take full advantage of DDR3 memory. Looking at the design of K10 vs. Core i7, both processors have an on-chip memory controller, eliminating any FSB needed for memory to processor communication. Both have a very fast link between their CPU and their external Northbridge, allowing other components fast access to the system memory. So in all reality, both setups have the necessary basis to get things going. It is AMD's K10 that isn't quite able to take full advantage of this memory at these early stages; what the future holds is anyone's guess.

What is good is AMD's commitment to DDR2 and AM2+. Fearing the same fate for AM2 as 939 received when AM2 first arrived, AM3 processors' backwards compatibility with the AM2+ socket and DDR2 memory makes these processors a definite winner for users wanting to upgrade from Athlon 64 X2's and AM2+ boards to the latest processors. AMD has you covered and with DDR3 support you can be assured you're not going to lose out when DDR2 bites the big one.