Installing a newly-released processor in an older motherboard—even one straight off a store shelf—can sometimes be met with disappointment as the board's BIOS doesn't recognize the new chip and refuses to boot. In such cases, the easiest fix is usually to have an older processor around that one can use to boot up and update the board's BIOS. However, according to a story on HKEPC, AMD is working with motherboard and chipset manufacturers on an even easier solution. Dubbed "Safe Boot," the effort involves adding a "unified register code" to motherboards so that they can boot with any processor using safe minimum clock speed and voltage settings. The story says motherboard manufacturers will even include a bootable operating system on the motherboard's bundled driver disc so users can easily flash their BIOS.
HKEPC doesn't know of a release schedule for this "Safe Boot" technology, but the system could come in handy next year, since AMD has said its upcoming next-gen quad-core processors will work in current Socket AM2 motherboards.
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