Socket 7 is a CPU socket released by Intel in 1994 for Pentium processors, also compatible with some AMD chips. The motherboard houses crucial components, including the CPU socket, and supports SDRAM slots, I/O, and expansion cards. Socket 7 was phased out with the introduction of newer Pentium chips and CPU sockets but is still produced by some companies.
A Socket 7 motherboard is a motherboard that features a Central Processing Unit (CPU) socket called a Socket 7. This particular component was released in 1994 by the semiconductor company Intel Corporation for its Pentium CPUs or processors. Socket 7, however, is also compatible with some chips from Intel’s main competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). As of May 2011, Socket 7 is the only CPU socket compatible with CPUs from more than one semiconductor company, thus making it popular in the history of Pentium motherboards.
Also known as a motherboard, the motherboard is responsible for housing many of a computer’s crucial components. This includes the CPU socket, which connects the processor with the motherboard for data transmission. It also provides physical support for the CPU so it doesn’t get damaged, especially when a user inserts or removes it.
The Socket 7 motherboard mainly supports Intel Pentium processors in the data transfer speed range or 50 MHz to 66 MHz. Pentium-compatible processors also have a processing speed range of 75 MHz to 200 MHz. Intel has also extended compatibility to Pentium chips with the MMX Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instruction set introduced in 1996, as well as the brand’s ill-fated OverDrive versions. In the same year that MMX debuted, AMD released its K5 CPUs, which were also compatible, and its successor, the 1997 K6, shared the MMX instruction set with Intel’s Pentium.
Other components that the Socket 7 motherboard contains include synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) slots for the computer’s system memory; inputs/outputs (I/O) as PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse; a headphone jack; and peripheral component interconnect slots and accelerated graphics port for expansion cards. Also included are chipsets, which facilitate the interaction of the processor, system memory and I/O, among other components. This includes the audio driver for audio, the Ethernet adapter for the wired network, and the graphics controller for video and graphics features.
The semiconductor industry began phasing out the Socket 7 motherboard when Intel introduced the Socket 8 in 1995. This CPU socket had 66 more pin contacts and was made for the Intel Pentium Pro, which was an extension of the original Pentium. The end of the Socket 7 motherboard came with the advent of the next generation of Pentium chips, the Pentium II, for which Intel designed Slot 1. Some computer companies, however, still produce the Socket 7 motherboard. They include Taiwan-based ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) and Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. (MSI).
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