AMD has reaped tremendous benefits from integrating a memory controller into the Athlon 64. Bringing the memory interface one step closer to the CPU has minimized a persistent performance bottleneck in modern microprocessors, and that's part of the reason the Athlon 64 has been performing backboard-shattering dunks over the heads of Pentiums with regularity since late 2003. The quickness and towering vertical leap came at a cost, however: AMD gained responsibility for managing the memory interface for its processors. That responsibility is why we are gathered here today--to take a look at AMD's new Socket AM2 processors that incorporate a revamped memory controller capable of talking with the industry's emerging PC memory standard, DDR2.

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