Socket 7
Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for an x86-style CPU socket on a personal computer motherboard. It was released June 1995.[1] The socket supersedes the earlier Socket 5, and accepts P5 Pentium microprocessors manufactured by Intel, as well as compatibles made by Cyrix/IBM, AMD, IDT and others.[2]
 | |
| Type | ZIF |
|---|---|
| Chip form factors | SPGA |
| Contacts | 321 |
| FSB protocol | P5 |
| FSB frequency | 66–83 MHz System Clock |
| Voltage range | 2.5–3.5 V |
| Processors | 75–233 MHz Intel P5 Pentium, AMD K5 through K6, Cyrix 6x86 (and 6x86MX) P120–P233 |
| Predecessor | Socket 5 |
| Successor | Socket 8 (Intel) Slot 1 (Intel) Super Socket 7 (AMD) |
This article is part of the CPU socket series | |
Socket 7 was the only socket that supported a wide range of CPUs from different manufacturers and a wide range of speeds.
Differences between Socket 5 and Socket 7 are that Socket 7 has an extra pin and is designed to provide dual split rail voltage, as opposed to Socket 5's single voltage. (However, not all motherboard manufacturers supported the dual voltage on their boards initially.) Socket 7 is backwards compatible; a Socket 5 CPU can be placed in a Socket 7 motherboard.
Processors that used Socket 7 are the AMD K5 and K6, the Cyrix 6x86 and 6x86MX, the IDT WinChip, the Intel P5 Pentium (2.5–3.5 V, 75–200 MHz), the Pentium MMX (166–233 MHz), and the Rise Technology mP6. AMD Geode LX and Geode GX used Socket 7 up until 2015.
Socket 7 typically uses a 321-pin (arranged as 19 by 19 pins) SPGA ZIF socket or the very rare 296-pin (arranged as 37 by 37 pins) SPGA LIF socket.
The size is 1.95" x 1.95" (4.95 cm x 4.95 cm).
An extension of Socket 7, Super Socket 7, was developed by AMD for their K6-2 and K6-III processors to operate at a higher clock rate and use AGP.
Socket 7 and Socket 8 were replaced by Slot 1 and Slot 2 in 1999.
References
- Torres, Gabriel. "A Complete List of CPU Sockets". Hardware Secrets. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- Intel Socket 7 Specification, pcguide.com, retrieved 2009-03-31
This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.