What does Socket "XYZ" mean ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alanz
  • Start date Start date
A

Alanz

Hi,

I was just wondering what does it mean when it said Socket A or Socket
462 or Socket 754?
Is it the property of the processor or the motherboard?
Also can a processor be available in two different configuration ?

I am asking this because I have been using AMD Athlon XP 2400+ with
A7N266-VM and as far as I know this configuration was Socket A. But
while searching for a compatible motheboard for my processor I came
across Asrock motherboard on this page -
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/AMD-support.htm

On this page - the socket 462 motherboard with NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra
400, model - K7NF2-RAID has AMD Athlon XP 2400+ as a supported CPU.
Just wondering how is this possible?

thanks.
 
Hi,

I was just wondering what does it mean when it said Socket A or Socket
462 or Socket 754?
Is it the property of the processor or the motherboard?
Click to expand...

Yes and yes
It means the motherboard has that socket on it to fit that
logical configuration of CPU pin-interface, and the
appropriate bus interfaces for this, etc.

Also can a processor be available in two different configuration ?
Click to expand...

Yes, some are but it's also possible there are other more
subtle diferences besides just the socket type even if they
have a seemingly same name.

I am asking this because I have been using AMD Athlon XP 2400+ with
A7N266-VM and as far as I know this configuration was Socket A.
Click to expand...

Yes it is, you can only use a socket A board for that CPU.
But
while searching for a compatible motheboard for my processor I came
across Asrock motherboard on this page -
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/AMD-support.htm

On this page - the socket 462 motherboard with NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra
400, model - K7NF2-RAID has AMD Athlon XP 2400+ as a supported CPU.
Just wondering how is this possible?
Click to expand...

Socket 462 is just another name for socket A, when they
listed it by # of pins, so you need a socket 462 / A, but
cannot use a socket 754, 939 or AM2.

your prior board was mATX, but the only Asrock nForce2
board, K7NF2-RAID, is full ATX and doesn't have integrated
video. I'd get another brand instead of Asrock for this
(among other) reasons.

On the other hand, now might be the time to consider if
you'd want to replace the CPU too, and perhaps the memory
since a couple of 256MB modules aren't worth much... by
replacing all three parts you'd not only have increased
performance but a more modern platform with support for
things like multiple SATA ports, DDR2 memory, PCI Express,
etc.
 
Alanz said:
Hi,

I was just wondering what does it mean when it said Socket A or Socket
462 or Socket 754?
Is it the property of the processor or the motherboard?
Also can a processor be available in two different configuration ?

I am asking this because I have been using AMD Athlon XP 2400+ with
A7N266-VM and as far as I know this configuration was Socket A. But
while searching for a compatible motheboard for my processor I came
across Asrock motherboard on this page -
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/AMD-support.htm

On this page - the socket 462 motherboard with NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra
400, model - K7NF2-RAID has AMD Athlon XP 2400+ as a supported CPU.
Just wondering how is this possible?

thanks.
Click to expand...

Socket 462 is another name for Socket A - dont ask me why they gave the same
socket 2 names - I dont know. But Socket refers to the design of the CPU and
the plastic socket it plugs into - they are not interchangeable. You need a
Socket A/462 motherboard for that CPU. Also make sure the new board supports
your RAM (which I suspect may be SDRAM). It may be easier to simply buy a
new mobo/cpu/ram bundle.
 
Socket 462 is another name for Socket A - dont ask me why they gave the same
socket 2 names - I dont know. But Socket refers to the design of the CPU and
the plastic socket it plugs into - they are not interchangeable. You need a
Socket A/462 motherboard for that CPU. Also make sure the new board supports
your RAM (which I suspect may be SDRAM). It may be easier to simply buy a
new mobo/cpu/ram bundle.
Click to expand...

The '462' refers to the number of pins in the socket design. Some of
the socket designations from Intel and AMD use the pin count for
naming, so it's not without precedent. You'll see boxes on later AMD
CPUs with "socket 939" and "socket 940" for example.

Socket 'A' is the official marketing designation, nobody knows why
they called it that, but I'd guess that except perhaps that they
wanted some sort of continuity with their previous flagship CPU
socket/slot ("Slot A"). "Slot A" was a play on Intel's flagship
slotted CPU socket -- "Slot 1"

Sometimes, it just happens that the Pin# and the official name aren't
interchangeable for technical reasons. For example, AMD has a socket
design called "Socket 940." So named for the number of pins it has,
and the number of pins on the CPU that goes into it. As luck would
have it, the new AM2 design also has 940 pins, but isn't compatible
with that old socket at all. Officially, to try and avoid the
confusion, they chose to designate the new socket "AM2." Of course,
before that announcement, some hardware sites were using those terms
interchangeably. This was before it was disclosed that the AM2 and
the earlier Socket 940 designs weren't compatible. You'll still
occasionally hear some people mistakenly referring to the AM2 as
Socket 940 or 940A (as if the official alphabet soup wasn't confusing
enough).
 
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