"Bryan J. Smith" thebs413@earthlink.net wrote:
The memory controller is on the _CPU_, _not_ the mainboard or its chipsets. There are literally 368 traces on a Socket-939/940 mainboard to its DIMMs -- 2 sets of 184-pin DDR.
Let me clarify this, I mean there are literally 368 traces from the CPU _directly_ to the DIMMs. The Socket-939/940 CPU handles all addressing, chip selects, etc... There is *0* logic on the mainboard itself for the memory -- the CPU defines the memory support.
[ On Socket-754, there are only 184 traces, as it has only 1 DDR bank. ]
I.e., there is _no_ "Memory Controller Hub" (MCH) for AMD Socket-754/939/940, which is Intel's term for the traditional "northbridge" in Front Side "Bottleneck" (FSB) architecture.
Intel Socket-423 (DR), 432 (DR MP), 478 (DDR), 603 (DDR MP), 604 (DDR/DDR2 MP) and LGA-775 (DDR2) all use a MCH. That means the MCH defines the memory support, _not_ the CPU.