Socket 775: processor socket - long-lived

Socket 775 is a long-liver by computer standards. It was announced back in 2004, and its receiver LGA 1156 appeared in 2009. By the standards of the semiconductor industry, 5 years is a whole epoch. During this period, this computing platform has continuously developed and constantly offered new solutions. At the moment, of course, it is obsolete. But computers based on it are still actively used and allow solving the simplest tasks in terms of complexity.

Start of sales of a computer platform, its development

In 2004, the Socket 478 processor socket from the technical point of view has exhausted all the possibilities for further development. Also, a new socket was needed, which would support 64-bit processing technologies instead of 32-bit computations that were obsolete at that time. Based on these two nuances, the manufacturers announced the sale of computer components for Socket 775. Another important feature of the platform was the fact that on one semiconductor chip there could be several computational modules at once. The largest number in this case could reach 4.

Sets of system logic from Intel

Immediately four generations of system logic from Intel could be the basis of such a computer component for LGA 775, like a motherboard. Socket 775 supported such branded chipsets as:

• I8XX - the first sets of logic system for this platform. They had much in common with their predecessors for "Socket 478". Later versions of the processors for Socket 775 were not supported by them because of the low clock speeds of the system bus.
• I9XX - the first update of the chipset lineup for LGA 775. System bus frequencies in this case increased. But the support of the most productive dual- and quad-core CPUs still could not be and is out of the question.
• X3X - these products were released almost simultaneously with the first CPUs of the Core 2 series of Duo (with 2 cores) and Quad (4 cores).
• The X4X is the latest generation of the most productive sets of system logic for this platform with the highest possible speed in this case.

Third-party chipsets

This platform has essentially become the last in the list of those for which sets of system logic produced by third-party companies. Since LGA 1156 Intel has monopolized this sphere for its solutions. Therefore, it was possible to meet motherboards based on chipsets from 4 other development companies in the list of offers of such an eminent manufacturer as the Asus 775. Socket for these CPU models was supported by such chipset models:

1. The company SIS offered to LGA 775 semiconductor products of the lines 64X, 65X, 66X and 67X. Each of them appeared after the update of the products from the company-developer of "Intel". The level of functionality they had was similar to its generations of chipsets.
2. Also for LGA775, VIA offered its solutions. The first of these was the PT800 / PM800. The last one is P4M900.
3. The chipset from ATI was also produced for this processor socket. There were only three of them: Xpress 200, Xpress 1250 and Xpress 3200. The name of the last of them also included the word crossfire. That is, this chipset made it possible to create very efficient graphics stations with several video accelerators.
4. The last manufacturer in this case is NVidia. The list of solutions included products that belonged to the line of NForce 4, NForce 5XX, NForce 6XX, NForce 7XX and NForce 9XXX.

RAM

Socket 775, in contrast to most modern computing platforms, was based on a layout of 2 chips. They were part of the system logic. The structure of the north bridge included the controller of operative memory. He was external. And this engineering approach reduced the performance of the computer system. But, on the other hand, it allowed with minimal costs to rebuild the motherboard for the use of newer and more progressive RAM. As a result, both DDR2 and DDR3 could be found in such PCs. The maximum amount of this important resource in the PC could reach 4 GB, and only one type of RAM could be used.

Processor Models

An impressive list of chips was released under 775 Socket. The processors of the following models could be found in such PCs:

• The least productive systems were based on CELERON chips. They could be both with 1 computing unit, and with two. Modest technical parameters (low clock speeds, small cache memory size) allowed to use them only as part of office PCs.
• A step higher was the CPU of the PENTIUM line. They were the same number of cores, either single- or dual-core. But the increased cache volume and higher frequencies made it possible to obtain a significant speed increase. They could be found even in entry-level gaming systems.
• The solutions of the middle class included Core 2 chips with Duo prefix. They necessarily already had 2 computational units and improved architecture. This allowed them to be used as part of mid-level gaming machines.
• The highest level of performance was also provided by representatives of the Core 2 line. But they already had a Quad prefix. That is, it was already a quad-core CPU with the best specifications and maximum speed.
• Apart from the list of LGA 775 CPUs, there are Xeon chips. With their help on the basis of "Socket 775" it was possible even to collect servers of entry level.

Situation to date

Of course, to date, the whole Socket 775 has become obsolete. The cooler, motherboard, RAM or CPU for this computing platform can still be purchased. But the expediency of assembling such a new personal computer raises great doubts. It is more correct in this situation to look towards fresh solutions based on the most progressive LGA1151 processor connector. But in the case of a PC failure on the basis of LGA 775 and prompt restoration of the operability of such a computer, the purchase of components can be quite justified step. In the rest, this computer ecosystem has completely gone to the present moment in the past and is irrelevant.

Results

Many of the developments that are implemented in the Socket 775, have been further developed in subsequent products from Intel. To underestimate this computing platform for today it is not necessary. But since its release, a lot of time has passed. And it is really obsolete, ceasing to be relevant.