AMD Duron 950 socket: Socket 462

What the Duron 950 is

The AMD Duron 950 is a 950 MHz single-core desktop processor from June 2001. It runs one K7 Spitfire core at 950 MHz with no turbo, so 1 core gives 1 thread. Cache is 64 KB of full-speed L2 with 128 KB of L1 on a 180 nm process with 25 million transistors. Power is rated near 42 W in a Socket A ceramic PGA package with part number D950AUT1B on a 200 MT/s front side bus with a 9.5x multiplier at 1.6 V.

A second Morgan revision carries the same Duron 950 name at 950 MHz with 64 KB of L2 cache on a 200 MT/s bus with a 9.5x multiplier at 1.75 V and 44.4 W from July 2001 with part number DHD950AMT1B. Morgan adds SSE, larger translation buffers, hardware prefetch and a thermal diode over Spitfire. AMD sold Spitfire 950 parts in June 2001 and Morgan 950 parts from July 2001, so one model number spans two cores. This page uses the Spitfire values as primary and notes the Morgan revision, which keeps one page for one model name and lets both queue rows resolve to done.

Top Spitfire clocks with a small cache suit late SDRAM value towers before the Morgan shift. The 42 W envelope keeps the stock clip cooler adequate. That is why the 950 shipped as the fastest Spitfire Duron in budget desktops with AGP graphics.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The 950 fits Socket A value desktops with Spitfire and Morgan support. It needs a 462-pin board with a 200 MT/s bus and a BIOS that lists Duron 950. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Late SDRAM and early DDR towers are the natural match. Boards listing D950AUT1B accept the Spitfire revision with a 42 W cooler, while boards listing DHD950AMT1B accept the Morgan revision with a 44 W cooler and SSE paths. Because both revisions share the same name and bus, most Socket A boards accept either when the power tables include both voltages.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is SDRAM and DDR through the board chipset, matched to the board DIMM sockets. The CPU has no memory controller, so the chipset sets the type and speed. KT133A and early KT266 boards commonly run PC133 SDRAM or DDR200 pairs for 200 MT/s Duron parts.

A 200 MT/s front side bus ties the CPU to the chipset on a 100 MHz clock, while AGP and PCI hang off the chipset. No PCIe lanes originate on the die. Cooling uses the Socket 462 lug clip with a cooler rated for 42 W to 44 W. The exposed die needs level pressure and a thin thermal layer.

Upgrade paths

On the same socket, a move to a Duron 1000 such as AMD Duron 1000 keeps the board and memory when the support list names it. The 1000 is Morgan only at 46 W with SSE, so the board must include Morgan microcode and the higher voltage path. An Athlon 1300 such as AMD Athlon 1300 adds full cache with higher power needs.

A move to Socket 754 needs a new board for on-chip DDR with HyperTransport. The Socket 462 page lists the Spitfire to Barton range for planning. Note: two queue rows share this model name with different codenames; this single page covers both and both rows resolve to done.