4 Different AMD processors Use Socket-A, So What?s up with Intel?

[Olias]

It's obvious to me that Intel doesn't care about the little guy...

AMD
Socket ?A? - Duron
Socket ?A? - Athlon
Socket ?A? - Athlon XP
Socket ?A? - Athlon XP (thoroughbred)

Intel:
Socket 370 - Pentium 3 coppermine
Socket-370 - Pentium 3 Tualatin (requires new chipset/motherboard)
Pentium 4 - Socket 423
Pentium 4 - Socket 478

 

[Don66]

It's obvious to me that Intel doesn't care about the little guy...

And neither does AMD...
Big companies aren't in the business to care about anything but the bottom line...Profit

 

[THUGSROOK]

hmmm, P4 1.6A cpus running upwards of 2900mhz on air cooling....

yea youre right, intel dont care - this purely coincidence

remember - intel didnt even have to release a 1.6A or a 1.8A CPU. they supposedly did it because there was no P4 celeron yet. (read = they did it for the overclocking press)

 

[imgod2u]

The "little guy"? Damn typical diluded idea of some company somehow being kind and another being evil or something. Simply put, AMD can't afford to cut clean and make people upgrade their motherboards all the time since most of their market is "the value" people who don't wanna spend too much money. If AMD had 80% of the desktop market share, it would change sockets as well.

Also, think about how old your current motherboard is, KT266a maybe? How about the raving about the newest KT333 boards? Is keeping the same socket size really that big a deal? Is the ability to upgrade from a 1.4 T-Bird to a 1.67 AthlonXP (not that big a jump) worth it? How many people are waiting for Hammer instead of any K7? Seriously, this thing has been blown way out of proportion by little fanboys.

 

[tritium4ever]

I agree with imgod2u in that little AMD fanboys have overblown the importance of the single socket "advantage" of AMD. Try using the latest Athlon XP with the first Socket 462 boards and you'll likely find that the BIOS doesn't support the Athlon XP. Of course this would force you into buying a new motherboard anyway, making the "advantage" somewhat moot.

In the months ahead, Intel will actually have the advantage in this arena. The Celeron has finally transitioned to Socket 478 with the release of the 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz Willamette-based cores. P4s since the death of Socket 423 (both 400MHz and 533MHz FSB models) all run with Socket 478. Thus Intel's complete line of desktop processors now use the same socket, much like AMD processors. However, when the Hammer-based desktop processor comes out (it will have a variant of the Athlon name, NOT Opteron), AMD's desktop line will transition to a new socket, creating upgrade havoc.

So who's behind here? The answer is obvious.

 

[Zxabils]

I agree with "imgod2u". Intel changes sockets, because they also make chipsets. When intel switches to a new CPU, they make a new chipset, and they make a new socket. Intel rules around 73% of the CPU market, and AMD owns arond 24%. AMD is staying on the same socket, so that companies can still run on an outdated KT133 chipset, and no one knows the difference. Not to mention, the enthusiest market is so small, if AMD and Intel cut overclocking completely, there wouldn't be much pain between the two.

I am an AMD fan, but I am also a competition fan. I appreciate AMD, as well as Intel equally. Right now I run an AMD XP1600 @ 1820MHz w/ aircooling. I am getting ready to upgrade to a 1.8GHz Northwood, and I am wanting to overclock to around 2.9GHz. I will be upgrading by 1.1GHz (but only around a 28% actuall performance jump), but I feel it is worth it.

I can sell my EpoX 8K3A, XP1600, and Thermalright AX7 for $190, and once I itcontact a friend of mine, I can move to a P4 @ 2.9GHz/P4B266-C/Good HSF for only around $75. Now in my opinion, that is well worth the $75 for the 28% performance jump. Once the hammer is out, I will likely upgrade to that, but for now, little $75-$200 upgrades after selling current stuff does fine for me. When hammer comes out, I'm going to spend $1500 to upgrade motherboard/CPU/ram/cooling.

With current top end CPU performance, and overclocking potential of 1.8a's, I see it futile to buy a 2.53GHz P4.


That's just my $0.02