AMD debuts socket AM1 platform

The numerous press releases by motherboard makers dedicated to availability of socket AM1 motherboards have not been in vain as AMD has officially launched the new AM1 platform.

The new AM1 platform will make use of AMD Kabini processors and will make it possible to build a machine with a socket AM1 motherboard and such a processor for just USD 60. AMD believes that such systems will be sought after on emerging markets in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. To power these motherboards AMD will release four new processors that will bring the Athlon and Sempron monikers back to life. The chips will include two or four 64-bit x86 computational cores and a built-in GPU on the famous GCN architecture. In addition the Kabini chips integrate the motherboard South Bridge so do not look for such a chip on your AM1 mobo. Unfortunately for some users Kabini is a budget-oriented line so chips that belong to this line will have a single-channeled DDR3-1600 memory controller for up to 16 GB of RAM, just two SATA 3.0 ports and support for PCI-E x4 only for external video cards. The USB port count does not take a hit though – the chip supports up to 8 USB 2.0 ports and up to two USB 3.0 ports.  

Unfortunately the first Kabini chips will be on the market next month so if you buy a socket AM1 motherboard now you will not be able to use it until April 2014 at least.

Source: AMD