Trinity needs a new board
The first pictures of AMD’s new FM2 socket seem to prove what has been rumoured for months – the new package won’t be compatible with FM1.
The old Llano FM1 package has 904 pins, while FM2 boasts 905. So, Trinity APUs won’t work on Llano motherboards, despite the fact that AMD will base its next generation chipsets on the current A75.
We always praised AMD for the longevity of its packages, especially the AM2 and AM3 series, so the decision to introduce a new, incompatible package for its second generation mainstream APUs is a bit disappointing, although not entirely unexpected.
Worse, AMD still seems to be experiencing Llano yield issues and probably won’t be able to resolve them by the time Trinity enters volume production. This means we probably won’t see many dirt cheap Llanos once Trinity is introduced, further speeding up FM1’s demise.
More here.