Intel Ending CPU Socket Support.

[Apache]

http://www.zdnet.com/intel-preparing...us-7000008024/
This is going to kill the upgrade market and put a lot of companies out of business. There will be a lot more people out of a job.
Apache

[Quexos]

It's always the same thing. Companies acquire power, companies abuse power. And even more so in this neo-liberal economy. Jobs will fall, they always do and shareholders will probably get richer in the process.

[Matth79]

The key issue is not going to be with user replaceable CPUs, since honestly, that is a tiny subset of the market, for most users, the computer is an appliance.

It's with the System builders, as instead of a board that could be loaded with a range of CPUs for higher or lower spec machines, it will mean each specification will require a different board/CPU combo.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Apache

This is going to kill the upgrade market and put a lot of companies out of business. There will be a lot more people out of a job.
Apache

Maybe. Maybe not.
In a word: daughtercards.
http://www.oldcpu.cz/CPU/Intel/Celeron-slot-1

[BWinmill]

I doubt that the CPU upgrade market is very large. It will hurt people trying to build systems though, since it would be uneconomical to produce every combination of motherboard and CPU.

At the end of the day I suspect one of three things will happen: Intel will back down, AMD will pickup the slack, or motherboard manufacturers will create a standard for CPU daughter cards.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Maybe. Maybe not.
In a word: daughtercards.
http://www.oldcpu.cz/CPU/Intel/Celeron-slot-1

As bus speed goes up, lead length and placement (cross talk) become critical. Those Daughter board type CPU's of the P2, P3 speeds are probably out for the recent generations of CPU's.


More e-waste

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by theducks

As bus speed goes up, lead length and placement (cross talk) become critical. Those Daughter board type CPU's of the P2, P3 speeds are probably out for the recent generations of CPU's.


More e-waste

Again, not necessarily.
A Celeron-style minimalist daughtercard architecture would likely not be doable.
But high-speed server/mainframe multi-processor systems are still being built using modular architectures with add-in processor cards for ease of repair and upgradeability. So there is no reason why a similar architecture can't be implemented for single or dual-processor systems, *if* there is enough of a market for it. It will without question be a niche market that *will* command a premium and it may be that the demand doesn't justify it, but the technology still *allows* it. It is not a given that upgradable systems will totally vanish.

What Intel is doing is simply a reflection of the reality that the large pinouts of modern multi-core single-chip CPUs make socket design a very challenging (read: expensive) proposition. And, as pointed out above, a lot of current computers are reliable enough that doing without sockets (saving the extra development and manufacturing costs) by moving to soldered CPUs (like most consumer electronics products) will result in cheaper products for the majority of consumers that don't need upgradability.

Not everybody actually needs or wants it badly enough to pay even a modest premium. And, of course, the less people want to pay, the more it will cost those that do need it.
The real question is whether those that claim to want it are willing to pay for it.

[afv011]

I hope it does not happen, I can't see anything good out of this. How would a motherboard manufacturer know how many of motherboard + CPU combination to make? Now they don't care, you have 2 or 3 sockets and once you pick the socket, you have a bunch of CPUs to choose from.

Too bad AMD is in shambles, otherwise this would be a good opportunity for them to step up, as they did in the late 90s.

[Barty]

I've never had a CPU go bad, but I've had several mobos die on me. With this, it will be out with the baby and the bath water

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Barty

I've never had a CPU go bad, but I've had several mobos die on me. With this, it will be out with the baby and the bath water

Yep. I had CPU fans go bad and the (AMD K2) was so hot , but survived.
I have lots of bad RAM, Bulging Caps.
Many, Many fans (PSU, Graphics) fail that took out that which the were supposed to keep cool. CPU fans have failed, but the CPU survived in all cases

[SteveEisenberg]

Another rumor:

SemiAccurate has been chasing the last bit of this story for several weeks, there is a very good chance that Broadwell’s successor, Sky Lake, will bring back a socketed CPU.

Reading these articles, one interpretation is that the non-socketed CPU lines will be for mobile devices. It's not like Intel will instantly stop producing socket 1155 CPU's when they start selling the allegedly soldered-in socket 1150.

Originally Posted by Quexos

It's always the same thing. Companies acquire power, companies abuse power.

Do you believe it is generally an abuse of power when a tech company sells a non-socketed CPU? If so, we are all facilitators by buying eReaders.

However, I agree that too much power is bad, even for a company I really like, as I do Intel. Hopefully, AMD will survive to compete, or ARM will somehow enter this space.

[sabredog]

Well this may well hasten my stop-start journey down the Apple path really.

I have enjoyed building my own desktop PC's over the years, choosing the mix of CPU, mobo and peripherals for the task in mind for the PC.

Looks like that flexibility is going to end as I am sure that motherboard suppliers will charge more for a much limited range system boards/hard wired CPU's.

On the positive side, no more holding breath as a new PC build fires up for the first time and finding the CPU/mobo pairing is not happy. Less pain to simply buy one off the shelf.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Another rumor:

SemiAccurate has been chasing the last bit of this story for several weeks, there is a very good chance that Broadwell’s successor, Sky Lake, will bring back a socketed CPU.

Reading these articles, one interpretation is that the non-socketed CPU lines will be for mobile devices. It's not like Intel will instantly stop producing socket 1155 CPU's when they start selling the allegedly soldered-in socket 1150.


Do you believe it is generally an abuse of power when a tech company sells a non-socketed CPU? If so, we are all facilitators by buying eReaders.

However, I agree that too much power is bad, even for a company I really like, as I do Intel. Hopefully, AMD will survive to compete, or ARM will somehow enter this space.

Laptops use a soldered CPU now.

Originally Posted by sabredog

I have enjoyed building my own desktop PC's over the years, choosing the mix of CPU, mobo and peripherals for the task in mind for the PC.

Looks like that flexibility is going to end as I am sure that motherboard suppliers will charge more for a much limited range system boards/hard wired CPU's.

On the positive side, no more holding breath as a new PC build fires up for the first time and finding the CPU/mobo pairing is not happy. Less pain to simply buy one off the shelf.

I would still rather build and or work my own. Of course I have always been that way.
Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, model airplanes and ships, cars, computers and jewelry.
Apache

[petrucci]

Is it possible for a hobbist to solder the CPU? If the pins are not too close together, and the chips are not too susceptible to damage from heat, then I would think that they would be.

[DustyDisks]

Originally Posted by petrucci

Is it possible for a hobbist to solder the CPU? If the pins are not too close together, and the chips are not too susceptible to damage from heat, then I would think that they would be.

It can be done if you have the right tools and know how and experience. It usually takes someone with the right tools messing up several boards and chips learning how to do the job right.

Some chip packages are easier than others to swap chips. Tho through hole chips are usually the hardest to remove and replace. Fine pitch chips ether through hole or surface mount are hard to hand solder without causing shorts between the leads.

Surface mount is easier, but the hard part is replacing and getting the chip registered (aligned) and the right amount of solder and or solder paste used to make a good joint and not create shorts. As for BGA's with their hundreds of bumps you can almost forget even trying unless you have the right stuff to work with.

Been there and done that with over 15 years of surface mount/through hole electronic device manufacturing.