AMD 760 needs mobo redesign

Chimpzilla's first erratumnotbug

By Andrew Thomas • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 4th December 2000 16:42 GMT

As originally reported by The Register over a month ago (see AMD 760 DDR chipset delayed), Jan Gütter, an AMD spokesperson in Germany has confirmed that Micron PC is delaying shipment of its 760-based DDR systems with a 266MHz FSB.

The problem stems from noise and the spokesman said it could be avoided by 'very minor' modifications to mobos. Although he declined to give specifics of these mods, they probably involve either filters and buffers and possibly even the removal of a DIMM slot - precisely what happened to Intel's RDRAM CaminoGate VC820 mobo.

Systems running at 200MHz FSB are unaffected, said the spokesman, who couldn't tell German site Tec Channel where 760-equipped PCs or mobos could be purchased in Germany, adding that there would not be any available before January, despite the company previously claiming they had been available since October.

AMD said that a new stepping of the 760 won't be necessary, adding that they wouldn't really call this a bug, making it Chimpzilla's very first erratumnotbug.

Check out Tec Channel's take (in German) here.

In the US, MicronPC.com has delayed shipping the 255MHz FSB variant of its new Millennia Max Xp PC models because of the same problem. Micron is still the only company shipping the 760 chipset in the States. The company has halted production and is now quoting delivery in 98 days rather than 56.

Mobo maker Gigabyte, the company which originally discovered the 760 problem, has added hardware filters to reduce the noise and Micron is now testing the modified board. A Micron spokesman in the US said the worst-case scenario was that shipments wouldn't start before February 12. The 200MHz FSB version is still shipping.

AMD had hitherto strenuously denied there were any issues with the 760, which was launched on October 30 - coincidentally the very day originally planned for Intel's Pentium 4 launch. ®