Socket P is a CPU socket for mobile processors designed by Intel in 2007. It has 478 pin holes arranged in a pin grid array (PGA) and uses a flip-chip pin grid array (FCPGA) design. It is compatible with Intel Core 2 brand CPUs and Pentium and Celeron processors. Socket M is its predecessor, and both can be plugged into Socket 479 but are not electrically compatible.
Socket P is a central processing unit (CPU) socket that semiconductor company Intel Corporation debuted on May 9, 2007 for some of its mobile processors. These are CPUs that Intel specifically designs for application on laptops, or notebooks, personal computers (PCs). Intel has designated it as the successor to Socket M. Socket P’s primary function, like other processor sockets, is to serve as a point on the computer’s motherboard where it can be plugged in for stability and data transfer.
Each Socket P has 478 pin holes, which it uses to house the CPU pins. Intel arranges these holes in neat rows on the sides of the socket’s square structure. This arrangement is known as a pin grid array (PGA). Socket P’s predecessor Socket M also has 478 holes per pin, so the former also goes from the Micro FCPGA-478 and the latter from the mPGA478MT for further differentiation.
More specifically, Socket P uses a PGA variant called a flip-chip pin grid array (FCPGA), which involves the back of the CPU die, the wafer of semiconductor material that holds its cores, or processing units, facing up . Socket P’s FCPGA design allows users to place a heat sink on the die, which reduces processor heat and consequently increases its power efficiency. It’s a form factor that Intel introduced with the debut of the Socket 370 in 1999 for some of its low-end Celeron and flagship Pentium III chips.
Intel mainly uses Socket P for CPUs of the Intel Core 2 brand, which appeared in 2006 to replace the Pentium as the company’s main family of computer chips. More specifically, the socket is compatible with the T5xx0, T6xx0, T7xx0, T8x00, and T9xx0 series of Core 2 Duo Mobile laptop PC chips with two cores and the Q2x9 series of Core 00 Quad Mobile – Core 2 laptop PC chips with four cores. The Pentium, now demoted to mid-range status, and the Mobile Celeron, weren’t left out though. Intel has extended compatibility to the Pentium dual-core T2x23, T0, T2410x3, T00x4 series and all Celeron M processors. Available data rates are 00, 400, 533, 667, and 800 megahertz (MHz) or millions of transfers per second (MT/s).
Socket M is also compatible with some of the Intel Core 2 Duo family members, especially the T5xx0 and T7xx0 series. Additionally, users can physically plug either Socket P or Socket M into Socket 479, which preceded them both in 2003. Neither socket, however, shares electrical compatibility with Socket 479.
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