Understanding Processor
Sockets And Slots
There are almost as many
CPU slots and sockets in use
T
here is a wide variety of processors used in today's PCs. Intel's older Pentium,
Pentium II and newer Pentium III, Pentium IV and Itanium processors all use
separate and incompatible socket types, as do the offerings from Intel's main
competitor, AMD. The purpose of this article is to examine the choices available,
today as there are processor
plus to list the processors more commonly associated with the slots and sockets used
types. And the area is
in today's motherboards. In many cases, especially earlier in the life of the PC, Intel
led the way with the new processors while others like AMD produced their own
becoming even more
compatible clones AMD has, though, done a lot of catching up and overtaking in
recent years, proving a very strong competitor to Intel for the desktop market.
confusing.
Figure 1 shows a list of Intel and AMD socket types from the early days of the PC
By Phil Morris
to the present. I have mainly listed those that were used in the majority of desktop
PCs. In order to make the lists as easy to read as possible I have left out the many
clones from manufacturers such as AMD and Cyrix. I don't wish Figure 1 to appear
Intel centric but it is safe to assume that, especially in AMD's case, it produced clones
of Intel's processors from the 8086 onwards and started to take the lead in recent
years. In addition to Figure 1, for a link to some very useful Web sites listing CPU
information, pins, pin layouts, and all socket types from Socket 1 to Socket 7 (and
including Slot 1) see the Web Resources section.
There are, of course, architectural differences between the main types of slot/socket,
but the line has become more blurred over the years. For example, the older Socket
7 CPUs require separate cache modules while the others do not, having for example
the L2 either built into the chip or still separate but on the same cartridge. Other
than that, there are no performance advantages inherent in Slot 1 or Slot 2 designs
over, for example, the older but historically very popular Socket 7 or Super7. While
it is true that Slot 1 and 2 motherboards often have better features (higher bus speeds,
AGP) it should not be assumed that they are superior to, for example, the older
Socket 7 boards. Various slot and socket designs can support multiple CPUs, for
example, Socket 7 and Slot 1 designs can support a pair of CPUs Socket 8 and Slot
2 can go up to four or even eight CPUs, with the right motherboard and supporting
hardware.
Intel Socket 7 And AMD Super7
Even though very few Socket 7 and Super7 boards are produced these days, it would
be an oversight not to very briefly mention these extremely popular and prolific
sockets. There is still a great number of Socket 7/Super7 motherboards in existence
and they aren't going to fade away that quickly, even against usurpers such as the
newer and increasingly popular Intel Socket 370 and AMD Socket A.
Socket 7 was LIF based and featured 296 pin holes. It supported a wide choice of
available CPUs from Intel, AMD, Winchip, Cyrix, Evergreen, Kingston and Power
Leap. Motherboards were available with CPU speeds up to 450 MHz and bus speeds
of up to 124 MHz (a few boards went higher than this, but reliability then became a
factor). The Intel Pentium Classic ceased production at the end of 1998 and the
Pentium MMX 200 and 233 MHz CPUs continued production until the end of 1999.
AMD naturally produced CPUs for Socket 7, the most popular being the K6 range
in its assorted versions, also the somewhat disappointing K5, the improved K6, K6 2
and K6 III. Super7, also known as Super Socket 7, was AMD's enhanced version of
Intel's Socket 7 the advantages with Super7 being the additional AGP support and
a 100 MHz FSB.
Update 156:November 2001
PC Support Advisor
File: T1053.1
page 13
Tutorial:Hardware
www.pcsupportadvisor.com
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