will the santa rosa platform support the 45nm penryn processors?

I just got a dv2500t with the santa rosa t7300 65nm processor and plan to update to an extreme processor later in the year -

however i am wondering if this chipset will be able to update to to the 45nm processor.

i have read reports saying yes and no. and also will the penryn be 800mhz or 1066mhz bus or both?

and finally, if it is only 1066mhz, will a processor that is 1066mhz be able to downgrade to the 800mhz to fit in my motherboard or no?


im just trying to find out the possibilities of updating and would LOVE if this could update to the penryn 45nm processor.

 

I just know it says the Santa Rosa "refresh" wills upport the 45nm cpu's.

When they say refresh if it means a new release of the chipset with updated socket or stats or just a bios update I dont know. Word is, that it will just be a bios update, and that makes the most sense since Santa Rosa is very similar to the Desktops Bearlake wich has native support for 45nm for sure, and I dont see why they would treat the moble market diffrently.

Also it would be a bad idea to name a whole "new" chipset after the old ones name so I am pretty sure thats the case.

Dont expect the new cpu's to be even close to the already high prices of the 65nm chips tho, you may not be so enthused when you see there prices for what little gains you will get

 

so u think that a simple bios update will allow the gm965 to support the 45nm cpus? if its a stats update, would that compromise the ability to update? (i know socket will for sure)

also, what fsb will the "refresh" be because if they are all 1066mhz, does that mean it wont work or when you put the cpu in, it will downgrade it to 800mhz to allow compatibility - or can a cpu even do that (downgrade fsb)?

 

First of all Penryn are the desktop chips. For desktops you need to mod your motherboard if you have 975x or P965 to run a Penryn. Therefore I doubt it will be as simple as a bios update for 45nm support on GM965. The chipset to support 45nm is Montevina not Santa Rosa.

p.s. Santa Rosa isnt similar to Bearlake, its a generation behind...

 

Penryn is a new core. There will be both a new desktop and mobile CPU based on it. The Penryn mobile CPU uses the same socket as the current Santa Rosa Core2Duo. Intel also said that it is pin compatable. This however does not mean that it will work in current systems. But it might work with a bios upgrade. It is too early to work.

The first Penryn CPUs will be available for the Santa Rosa plattform first, before Montevina comes out. However it is not sure that the current Santa Rosa can use it too. Maybe there needs to be some slight modifications to the hardware maybe not.

 

well i will just have to wait, atleast it is pin compatible, just hoping its as simple as a bios update - or even no update at all!

any others want to add their opinion of what will happen or if they know facts - please post, hoping badly i will be able to upgrade simply the CPU over everything

 

From another thread.

Google "45nm Santa Rosa and you will probably know just as much about it as anybody else at this point.

 

Yeah MB Penryn is the apparently the mobile chip. Wolfdale is the desktop. Most people on enthusiast sites call the 45nm desktop chips Penryn which is probably why I got confused.

Anyway I wont count on Santa Rosa supporting Penryn. AFAIK it is similar to early 975X motherboards not supporting Conroe. The chipset itself does but some components do not. Notebook motherboard makers have even less incentive to make the motherboards Penryn compliant than desktop motherboard makers. Not even desktop P965 boards support 45nm so the chances of current Santa Rosa supporting is rather small to none.

 

well to me, that looks like they will have a 45nm penryn processor released for the santa rosa chipset - but they will also release montevina and will change the chipset and perhaps fsb - making it not updateable.

but atleast that looks like the refresh will work in the current chipset and another roadmap i have seen - shows santa rosa refresh with a an x7800, t7700, and t7800 - 2.8ghz with 6MB cache (and 2.4ghz, 2.4ghz - 6mb cache) which would be an excellent thing if upgradable.

under montevina, it does not show the speeds available (in the other roadmap i have seen).

more info, face or opinion, would always be helpful

 

You asked about the current Santa Rosa not the Santa Rosa refresh later this year. The current Santa Rosa is highly unlikely to support Penryn (else they wont need a refresh). The Santa Rosa refresh will support Penryn. Current Santa Rosa doesnt have the VRM for Penryn.

 

What I heard is that the 45nm cpus will be on a new socket and be quad cores. However they will do a cut-down version that is dual core to go on the older platforms.