Socket 462, also known as Socket A, is a CPU socket designed by AMD for their Athlon brand of PC chips. It has 462 pin holes arranged in a pin grid array and requires a data rate of 200-400 MHz. It was used for Athlon, Duron, Sempron, and Geode NX chips until it was replaced by Socket 754 and 939.
Socket 462, also known as Socket A, is a central processing unit (CPU), or processor socket, that semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) designed primarily for second- and third-generation manufacturing of the its flagship brand of personal computer (PC) chips called Athlon. The number 462 indicates the number of pin holes that the CPU pins attach to. With its introduction in 2000, Socket 462 followed in the footsteps of earlier CPU sockets in connecting processors mechanically and electrically to the motherboard.
The holes on socket 462 are arranged in neat rows covering the square-shaped component, an arrangement known as a pin grid array (PGA). There are two types of PGAs: ceramic pin grid array (CPGA), which means the socket is ceramic; and organic pin grid array (OPGA), denoting its production of organic plastics. The physical dimensions of Socket 462 include a width of 2.6 inches (6.55 centimeters) and a length of 2.2 inches (5.59 centimeters). Intel typically employs force zero insertion (ZIP) for this socket to eliminate the dependency on force to attach or remove the CPU. This is useful to prevent possible damage to the processor.
The computer chip mounted in Socket 462 must have a data rate of 200, 266, 333, or 400 megahertz (MHz). This means that the chip must be capable of 200, 266, 333 or 400 million transfers per second (MT/s), respectively. The outlet itself uses an operating voltage range of 1 to 2.05 volts (V).
AMD mainly made Socket 462 for the second and third generation Athlon, codenamed Thunderbird and XP/MP, respectively. They appeared in 2000 and 2001. AMD also used it for Duron, which was their low-end CPU brand at the time and appeared in the same year as the Thunderbird Athlon. When the company replaced Duron with Sempron in 2004, it began using the new chips on the socket as well. A fifth brand compatible with Socket 462 is the Geode NX, a chip that combines the characteristics of a computer system and was once manufactured by National Semiconductor.
In 2003, the year AMD acquired the manufacturing rights to the Geode NX from National Semiconductor, the company introduced Socket 754 as the socket for the Athlon 64, the immediate successor to the Athlon XP. With this socket, AMD has increased the number of holes by almost 70%. The following year, the 939 socket, which more than doubled the pin holes of the 462 socket, appeared for the same purpose. The arrival of these components marked the end of Socket 462’s dominance, although it retained its use for Geode NX chips.
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