We should have 1 socket for all of are processors

Yes... in a perfect world. But, unfortunately in this world things don't work that easy.


<i><b><font color=red>"2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2"</font color=red></b></i>

I completely totally 100% DISAGREE.

Different CPU cores need different voltages. To provide for their differing power needs, they also need different pin set-ups.

When you have all CPUs work off of the same socket, stupid people who don't research before they buy will try to put their new chip with different power needs into their old motherboard. At best, the new chip just won't work.

Then they rant and rave and call their chip company names and blame everyone except for themselves. They flood tech-support with stupid problems and stupid questions that if they had done even a tiny little bit of research, including just reading the owner's manual, they would already have the answer to.

Also, different CPUs also need different heat sinks. Big heat sinks need a more solid moutning than small heat sinks.

If there were only one type of socket, these same stupid people would sit there and try to mount some giant heat sink onto a socket that can't hold it, and it'll fall off or break something... if they can even mount it at all. Or they'll try to run their new chip on their old and inadiquate heat sink.

Again, more stupid problems and stupid people flooding tech-support with stupid questions and complaints.

And how is this whole mess solved and tons of money towards tech-support saved? By changing the sockets.

That way, stupid people can't put a new CPU into an old socket on an old motherboard that won't support it.

I'm ALL for having different socket types. Even though I know that I am smart enough to research these things for myself and build systems from parts that were meant to go together, I know how annoying it is to have to deal with stupid people.

And changing socket types solves SOOOOOO many stupid people problems.

-Got your money for nothing, and your chips for free.
-I want my, I want my, I want my AMD.

CPU's can be autodetected, along with their operating voltages.

heatsinks for both platforms are the same size.

you've succeeded in making no points whatsoever!


<i><b><font color=red>"2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2"</font color=red></b></i>

You were talking about power settings of the cpu. Where the hell did power supply unit come from. You never mentioned that in your post. and even still, how does that effect the reason and the need for having more than one platform for the same generation of cpu's.


<i><b><font color=red>"2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2"</font color=red></b></i>

You can make all CPU's use the same socket but what about the chipsets? AMD won't work on !ntel ChipSets and
!ntel won't work on AMD chipsets so what would be the point???

Not to mention you have incompatablities between the different processors - PIII won't run on a PIV chipset and visa versa. If you had a K6-3 mobo and it used the same socket as your new T-bird, it still wouldn't work so what would be the point?

You would need more than just a socket standard...

"Yesterday's solutions are Today's problems...."

I agree that as new/refined technology and processes come along, you have to make room for them (ISA bus > PCI > AGP), and this often means overhauling or even replacing an entire standard. This is a good thing, and lets technology develop in a (dare I say it) more natural way, i.e., cases of 'you can't have a bigger bus 'coz you've got to use PCI' changed to 'here's the lovely new AGP, and it's all yours'.

However, Mordy's comment on Intel doing illegal/immoral things is kinda true. If you look back to Pentium & Pentium II days, whilst turning the 586 into the Pentium and trademarking it was a clever way of getting brand loyalty, making the Pentium II use the Slot 1 and then patenting the actual slot was blatently trying to expel competitors from their market.

Whilst they <i> are </i> trying to beat the competition (all companies all are), this move just led to the current situation whereby if someone wants to move from Intel to AMD or vice versa, they have to replace the board as well, which makes it a much more expensive transition, and for the non-techies, too scary to contemplate.

Intel must have realised that an alternative to Slot 1 would be designed by AMD et al, and that they wouldn't just give up and slink away. The end result of this is that we still have different designs, and this has probably gone a long way to the build-up of the AMD and Intel camps that exist out here (and in here).

Lets hope that common standards can continue to be developed in the industry, and that the big companies can play fairly with each other from now on.

Dan