Bij Ace's Hardware is wat nieuwe info gepost over het upgraden naar de 'nieuwe Athlon', nu nog bekend als de Thunderbird. Volgens onderstaande zal AMD wel Slot-A T-birds naar distributeurs shippen waardoor huidige bezitters van een AMD 750 based moederbord de kans krijgen om te upgraden naar een T-bird. Testen van AMD hebben uitgewezen dan KX133 moederplaten hoogstwaarschijnlijk niet zullen werken met de T-bird, alhoewel Abit hier nog steeds anders over denkt. Over de nieuwe Socket A borden wordt gezegd dat AMD zeer strenge eisen stelt aan de kwaliteit van de modellen. Alleen MSI, Gigabyte en Biostar hebben producten klaar tijdens de lancering van de Duron. Hier de rest van de info:
AMD's testing methods for socket A motherboards and Thunderbird "recommended" motherboards seems to be extremely stringent. Our industry sources reports that only a few motherboards have passed AMD's test suite and will be listed on the "New Athlon recommmended motherboard list". The AMD Athlon platform was one of the most stable ones in de pc desktop market, and AMD wants to make sure the same can be said about the Thunderbird, the new Athlon. (editor note: AMD has taken the lesson of the early Super 7 problems to heart).
The good news is, that it will be possible to get a Slot A Thunderbird to upgrade your Slot A motherboard, IF and only IF you got a AMD750 chipset. Industry sources report that AMD's test reports show it is very doubtfull that the Thunderbird will work with any VIA KX-133 board, even with a BIOS upgrade. It seems that AMD will provide trusted resellers with Slot A Thunderbirds on the condition that they will make it clear to customers that the Thunderbird should always be paired with the right motherboard. In other words, you should be able to pick up a Slot A Thunderbird to upgrade your current AMD 750 chipset system.
Slot A thunderbirds will only be produced in Q3 of 2000. Socket A Thunderbirds are much cheaper and easier to produce, so all Thunderbirds in Q4 of 2000 will be socket A ones.
Only MSI, Gigabyte and Biostar will be presenting socket A motherboard at the launch of the Duron. The Launch of the Duron will not happen together with the "New Athlon" (Thunderbird), but a few weeks later.
Dank aan Bleeker voor de link.