Was socket A the best ever?

S

skyeandangus

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Jul 26, 2004
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Just saw an article over on the inquirer.net about the last socket A shipping from AMD. This socket has been around forever, and every one of my systems have been built with it(I still get a sweaty brow every time I clip on the heatsink, darn open core!!!). I'm sorta sad to see it go. Sure, the Athlon 64 has been around for a while, but I've yet to build using one yet, I look forward to it.

Just think the Socket A deserves one last salute before we start shoveling the dirt.
 
the memorial service will begin @ 12 pm on this thread. jk o well it's good ol socket A. :(

Yo, look forward for Socket M2 instead of 939.
 
I have to say I loved it while it was current but I dont miss it now thats its dead.

my 754 Sempron is heads and shoulders above my old Barton 2500+. I got a 700 Mhz OC on it with stock cooling, stable. Just could not touch that with socket A, or have Hypertransport, low latency, etc etc. Time marches on.
 
I think Socket “A” was a huge turning point for AMD. Cycle for cycle they were finally able to give Intel some real competition.

I can’t remember all the various steppings anymore but I remember how easy they were to modify and work with.

I recall some 1700’s that did 2.3 with no effort, some really good 1800’s etc.

750 Durons that could do almost a GIG with no effort at all.

The $80 Barton 2500 that did 3300+ right out of the box

One of the best features was the ability to mod a CPU into SMP in about 30 seconds.

I wouldn’t quite write them off yet as I and many others still have very viable machines still running that platform, it will be around for a while.

Yup, some good memories there for a long time to come. Not to mention boxes of old HSF’s sitting around…………… :rolleyes: ;) :D
 
I always thought socket A was a pain in the ass. I am not sorry to see it go. I myself really like 940 and 939. Actually though LGA775 is my favorite. Not the chips that go in them, just the socket. Let me be clear on that. :D
 
hey... if i could have pci express with socket A i would hang on alot longer, my cpu is getting a littel old, but im not ready to go for new mobo and cpu AND vid card that would be required to get there , but a new mobo and vid card would be nice i cant see upgradeing my vid card to something that will be out dated in the fairly near future, and i almost always end up only upgradeing 2 at a time , (vid and mobo, the mobo and cpu later... i know i just spent the money on my mobo twice, but i rarely have the money for all at once, besides mobo gian in features and speed/stability faster than just about every other product out there any way , there always a new board out by asus... abit...dfi...msi...ect that out dose the vender befor it... ) and with socket a... i could do this... but right now... it hard to know what socket to go with... s754...939...940(heh... my point exactly...) and now i hear about socket M2 ill wait for AMD to find a good socket solution again that they plan on sticking with befor i sink 2k into a new pc i mean... socket A ran for what... 4...5 years...

and yeah.. open core is a littel scary... but its the only way to deal with the heat these monsters put out... i remeber when my friend put to gether his first socket a after moveing up from a 486dx33 he remebered seeing the 486 without a heatsink and figured the athlon didnt need it as long as he didnt put it under load, (he was only going to set up the bios...) beleave it or not.. it lasted just long enought to make it into bios (it flashed to that blue and white screen and then hardlocked and shut off) he wasnt shure what was going on and i ended up drive 30+ miles to his house to see what he did to make it "not boot" well... he now has a 400$ keychain (it was one of the first socket a's and not a slot a)

thore
 
Yeah, I had, let me see, a 1.3 tbird, a 1gig Duron, a 900mhz athlon, a 2400+, and a 1.6gig applebred, and I've built with a 1600+, 1800+, and a 2200+.

Can't say that I don't love the idea of the heat spreader on the new 64s, though.

AMD has a big big problem for us more poor price savy builders, though. They have 4 sockets right now, with two(?) on the horizon in the next two years. Nice thing about the socket A was that It lasted 5(?) years, with architecture around it that was standard once it went DDR. It helped to minimize the financial pain of upgrades. I can't see the reason to,or afford to build a whole new system (the only thing I could keep is the DVD-RW, CD-RW, and floppy, since I run a 2400+ with an asus board, PC2700 RAM and a 9500 pro card). So, I guess I'll wait a while longer. Once Dual Cores gets to the price of the 754($150ish), perhaps I'll consider a new system. I forsee an M2 build, maybe late 200.

Till then, If I get a gaming itch, I'll get an xbox 360.
 
my first socket A chip was a 650mhz duron, which oc'd to a cool 1100mhz with a fop32.Man did that kick the crap out of my celerymine 566@892mhz. Then I got a 750mhz tbird , oc'd to 1000mhz. Then a 1100, then a 1.33, then a 1600+ AXP, and then 3 1700+'s (trying to get the right .13 B core) . Then a duron 1800mhz, then a 2500+. Ahh, good times. I doubt their will ever be a socket with the kind of lifespan A had. It was good to us.

Wish I still had that duron kicking around, I miss that 650mhz monster.
 
Personally, my vote for best socket is still for Socket 7. The last socket where 'everyone' could play together. I guess scaling was from 75mhz to 550mhz (didnt realize the k6-2 made it that high.) It was adaptable enough to support additional demands from innovations ranging from MMX to 3DNow! Nowadays they (either camp) just crap out a new socket for any reason.
 
BillR said:
I think Socket “A” was a huge turning point for AMD. Cycle for cycle they were finally able to give Intel some real competition.

I can’t remember all the various steppings anymore but I remember how easy they were to modify and work with.

I recall some 1700’s that did 2.3 with no effort, some really good 1800’s etc.
Click to expand...

Can you explain to me how easy? I wanna squeeze a few extra mhz out of my palomino for the next couple of years before sending it to the great microchip repository in the sky. :D

I'm a n00b at OCing, so be sure to give it to me in laymen's terms if possible. :eek:
 
Socket A lives on with the Geode NX series of processors. I'd say that it's premature to call the socket dead just yet...
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
I always thought socket A was a pain in the ass. I am not sorry to see it go. I myself really like 940 and 939. Actually though LGA775 is my favorite. Not the chips that go in them, just the socket. Let me be clear on that. :D
Click to expand...

y is that your fav socket...i personally hate the thing...but it looks kewl..

i got about 4 puters with socket a and love eveyrone of them

Long live Athlon XP
 
Either way guys...
Socket 462 had a great run ~ 5 years IIRC.

It also opened up a lot of peoples eyes when it came to which company to choose for a processor.

It also turned a lot of the Intel overclockers onto AMD...Remember any of the overclocking websites before Slot-A and Socket A...they were mainly Intel camps...

How did they do it? No bunny suits...it was mainly word of mouth among the enthusiest crowd with the benchmarks to back it up.

thumbsup.gif
to AMD...
 
darknite said:
y is that your fav socket...i personally hate the thing...but it looks kewl..

i got about 4 puters with socket a and love eveyrone of them

Long live Athlon XP
Click to expand...

LGA775 puts the pins in the socket. That makes sense. It cuts down on RMA's for the CPU maker, and it means that its virtually impossible to accidentally physically damage a high end processor. So no more stories about someone breaking a pin off of a Extreme Edition processor.

I for one would rather break a $200 motherboard, than a $600+ processor. Plus as an added bonus, when the processors become dated, old and slow or just plain fry, you can make a keychain out of them easier! No pins to file down!

Plus I think LGA775 is cool looking. Also the fact that no matter how much thermal compound you put on the CPU, you can NEVER pull the CPU out with the heatsink stuck to it. I've seen many pins bend or break on Socket 478/754/939 and even Socket 940 processors when they are removed. As a service tech I have to remove processors from customer machines quite a bit for testing purposes. As a result I've discovered that many people and system builders put too much thermal compound on the CPU and I've had many AMD and Intel chips alike come out stuck to the heatsink no matter what I do to try and minimize that possibility. Not that it happens every time, but often enough. I've also seen customers break their own processors alot of the time because of that design.

Socket T (LGA775) keeps the processor in place and the cover clamps the processor down around the edges. In my opinion this is nearly a flawless design. With only one flaw of being easy to damage on the mainboard itself. As I said I believe the trade off is worth it.

I hoped AMD would fallow Intel's lead with this on Socket M2. Alas that isn't going to happen.
 
xonik said:
Socket A lives on with the Geode NX series of processors. I'd say that it's premature to call the socket dead just yet...
Click to expand...

In the PC mainstream market it is dead. But I hear what you are saying. In that reguard Socket 370 is alive and well with the VIA C series chips.
 
Socket A was a good kid. Going to really miss it since it was my first comp and it was so cheap at the time. I love my 1700+ that would hit 2.5ghz on water man that thing is still awesome, although its only running at 2.3ghz now. What a beautiful socket it was.
 
* Missing Man Formation Flyover *




I have built more socket A / 462 rigs for people then anything else, I think I have 2 or 3 still
in the works ( parts all over the work bench ) , Best bang for the buck so far.

I love my AMD MP-2400, That bastard loves to OC.


They will be missed.,.... :(
 
i cant say anything bad about socket A

i just bumped my 2500+ to 2.3GHz and its loving every minute of it.
 
my socket a is the only computer i have had that i would say still contends with modern apps after owning it for 3 years. cant beat that kinda performance. gotta love my 1800 xp. three years of college down, one more to go, and i dont ever see myself gettin grid of it till it dies. i have upgraded everything but my original mobo, ram and cpu. i mean i even bought windows after some time. granted it was this spring, but i still bought it.

ashes to ashes, dust to dust, run those bitches till the smoke like mount St Helens

cheers
Ryan
 
Wow Let me go through my history with socket A (462)

Duron 800 @ 950mhz with stock voltage (didn't know about upping voltage back then)
Athlon 900 @ 1000mhz again with stock voltage
Athlon 1300 - Ran that stock.
Athlon XP 2000+ - Ran that stock on the classic Ks7a
Athlon XP 2500+@3200+ - Ran it on Stock Voltage, only had to up the FSB
Athlon XP-m 2400+ 45w@ 2.4 ghz- Replaced my 2500+ with this one
Athlon XP-m 2200+ 35w@ 2.6ghz- Replace my 2400+ with this one

My Duron died the saddest death. As I was replacing it with an Athlon I dropped it and ran over it with a chair. I was sad because I had a nice Micro-Atx board all set as a new home for him.

The Athlon 900 was sold to a co-worker who moved to Brazil.
The Athlon 1300 was sold to my boss at the time.
The Athlon XP 2000+(along with Mobo and Geforce 3) was sold to a friend of mine so I could by a Radeon 9800 Pro.
The Athlon XP 2500+ Currently resides in my Sleeper System and runs at 2800+ speeds due to limitations of the motherboard.
The Athlon XP 2400+ I gave to one of my best friends as a Christmas gift cuz he couldnt afford a faster processor, and after buying my 3400+ I had it as an extra one and didnt feel like building another system with it.
The Athlon XP 2200+ Currently Resides in my SFF(lanbox). I lowerd the voltage and speed, It now runs at 2.4ghz and at 1.65 volts, still a fast chip.
 
For the record I hate Socket A.

I have had to many horrible experiences with systems using that socket. Cheap crap is what most of them were. All but one socket A mobo I've owned were by FAR the worst mainboards I've ever owned.

Death to Socket A.

The only socket I miss is Socket 8. So cool looking. The CPU's were so big and heavy. They just feel powerfull. Of course in their day they were.
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
For the record I hate Socket A.

I have had to many horrible experiences with systems using that socket. Cheap crap is what most of them were. All but one socket A mobo I've owned were by FAR the worst mainboards I've ever owned.

Death to Socket A.

The only socket I miss is Socket 8. So cool looking. The CPU's were so big and heavy. They just feel powerfull. Of course in their day they were.
Click to expand...

dont blame the CPU for crappy mobos and chipsets
 
Steel Chicken said:
dont blame the CPU for crappy mobos and chipsets
Click to expand...

ahh.. then there was the bad capacitor debacle... epox and .gigbyte for shure... was abit also involved in that one??? well.. any way, my friend is still running a gigabyte board that had the caps go out on it.... it started acting funny and i had him back up his HD and leave it off as much as possible till i could get new caps for it... ended up replaceing 12 caps on that board to get all of em... but it still runs fine till this day with the new caps...

and as far as trouble with the chips its self, i had far more heat issues back in the k6 k6-2 days when the procs would overheat and crash all the damn time.. thoughts where the crappy days i was so happy when they moved to slot and socket a for the most part because it made the pc manufactures relise that bus speed in important as well as cpu speed, i mean.. look at how fast the buss speed ramned once we got to slot a... befor that we where pretty much stuck at 66 and 100mhz... (heh i rember my friend when he spent 3k on a micron and it had EDO ram... 16 megs... man that thing was fast...untill he stuck win 95 on it... )

thore
 
Steel Chicken said:
dont blame the CPU for crappy mobos and chipsets
Click to expand...

Not blaming the CPU's. I just see that socket and I can't shake the feeling I am working with outdated and cheap crap. That's all. Really though Socket A probably has more crappy mobos and shitty chipsets than any other socket has ever been tethered to.
 
Socket A was definatley good, it's too bad AMD didn't put more into the procs at the time. You get what you pay for I guess. And don't get me wrong, I really liked that proc, rock solid, fast. But it was delicate, nothing to protect the die, and no real protection against over heating.
 
built a ton of them, from duron 900's up to barton +2500s. None have ever died.


But DAMN I hate the factory heatsink mechanism.
 
socket A had the longest lifespan in my system. I got my first one ages ago and I am going to replace my last one in about two weeks time. I guess 4 years of the same CPU interface is quite impressive.
 
You do know this thread makes me feel kinda obsolete...
2600+ cpu that I never managed to oc more than 400 mhz extra out of. I dont like my DFI 400al board and the CPU fan thing was annoying... But I think this computer will last me a while though.
 
I don't really have any touching memories for it myself. Socket A is what was there when I got into computers and the only computer I've built with one is the Athlon XP 2500+ system that I'm on now. Sad thing is, I bought it because it was supposed to be a good overclocker and I've never gotten over 2.1GHz stable with the thing. Kinda disappointing, but as a processor, it does its job I guess.
 
Just remembered something. I probably shouldn't be doing this, but...

My first t-bird was a 1.3gig. I ran it for two years as my main computer. I upgraded to a 2400+ and made a computer for my wife to use at work. Last year, in swpa, we got totally flooded by Hurricane Ivan. My wife's office was flooded for almost a day with over 8 feet of water. Computer soaked nice and long. I tore the system apart, and tried to salvage anything I could find. Miraculously, the power cut off at the building before the water hit the pc. I managed to pull out the athlon, the memory, and the xpert 2000 video card. All are in use today, memory and video card in her new work computer, and the athlon in her home computer.
 
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