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Socket L is a CPU socket for AMD’s Quad FX platform, with two sockets for dual-core processors. It uses the land grid array form factor and supports AMD’s HyperTransport technology. It was replaced by the C32 and G34 sockets in 2010.
Socket L, also known as Socket L1, is what graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer Nvidia calls the semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) central processing unit (CPU) socket. It is for the AMD Quad FX platform, for which Nvidia has provided a chipset. Officially known as Socket F, Socket L is the main component of a personal computer (PC) motherboard format that contains two sockets so that users can connect two dual-core processors.
Designed for increased computing power, the dual L-socket AMD Quad FX platform was released on November 30, 2006 for the hardware enthusiast or performance-oriented customer. This particular application of Socket F is also known as Socket 1207FX. The socket itself had been released three months before the motherboard platform, on August 15, 2006, for AMD’s 2xxx and 8xxx series under the workstation and server oriented Opteron branding. It’s also compatible with the FX-7x series from the PC gamer-focused Athlon 64’s FX division, which explains the platform and socket suffix FX.
Socket L is notable for being the first AMD processor socket to use the land grid array (LGA) form factor. This meant that it had pins on the socket rather than the more popular type of integrated circuit packaging, called a pin grid array (PGA), which usually had pin holes with the pins on the CPU. The pins of the L socket, numbered 1.207, are arranged in four neat rows on the square structure of the socket. It uses an LGA variant called flip-chip LGA (FCLGA). The Opteron or Athlon 64 FX computer chip has the back of the die, the piece of semiconductor material that stores the CPU cores or processing units, exposed, thus allowing the introduction of a heat sink for heat dissipation and promote energy efficiency.
The three Athlon 64 FX chips supported by Socket L have a data transfer rate of 1,000 megahertz (MHz) or 1 billion transfers per second (GT/s). The Opteron has better speed, with a range of 1 to 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), or 1 billion to 2.4 GT/s. All Socket L-compatible chips use AMD’s HyperTransport, a technology employed in place of the traditional front-side bus interface for greater efficiency.
In 2010, two sockets replaced the L socket. The C32 socket, which has the same number of pins, was designed for the Opteron’s entry-level 4000 series. Socket G34 appeared as the CPU socket for the top-tier Opteron 6000 series and surpassed the other two sockets with its 1,974 pin count.
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