Intel's 2011 CPUs require new motherboards, start saving those pennies now?
By Sean Hollister 
posted April 21st 2010 5:56PM
posted April 21st 2010 5:56PM
posted April 21st 2010 5:56PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Ugh, again?
@Spiraling Shape Fine with me. If anything, this makes my upgrade path easier. I was trying to decide whether I should just buy a new C2Q 9650 for my 775 board, or upgrade to the newer boards and get a i7 chip. But if Intel is going to release a new form factor next year anyway, with Sata III native support and PCI-E 3.0, it makes much more sense to get the 9650 now, and wait a year to do the full mobo and cpu upgrade.
@Cash9007
That's exactly what I just went through. Stuck with m q9400 on a ep45-ud3lr mobo and an 8600gt/7900gtx. Perfect dual boot win7/totally vanilla hack pro.
I'm looking forward to upgrading fall 2011, in the mean time I'll probably grab a better c2q this winter.
@Spiraling Shape
I'm soooooooooooo glad I did not upgrade when I had the chance. I'm all for USB 3.0... but Jesus tap-dancing Christ, that was a serious dick-move on their part. :P
@Spiraling Shape
Bingo... though, I have to say, it seems like Intel's current chips are the open beta for this new all-in-one technology; I thought about getting a 1156 chip and mobo but will probably buy AMD this generation if I buy anything, and then look at Sandy Bridge when it finally gets here.
I wish Intel would stick w/ a socket a bit longer like AMD.
@Ducman69
Musn't say anything smart.. ....
...this comment is practically begging for it :D
@Ducman69
Intel's technology also moves a lot faster than AMD's. Motherboards are typically pretty limited in their forward compatibility, but they've always been like that.
@Ducman69
this is exactly why I've stuck with amd over the years. No complaints after years of loyalty
@Ducman69 I dunno, during the tenure of the Socket 775 @ Intel, AMD went through the following sockets: 939, AM2, AM2+, and AM3
@motorolo
But all their new processors are compatible with AM2, AM2+ and AM3. They may have made more sockets, but they maintained backwards compatibility more too.
@Nitesh Huh? No.
@motorolo
Actually, yes. Most AM2 boards will support new AMD processors with a BIOS upgrade.
@Nitesh
It's all timing. I remember jumping on Socket 939 early on and having it die less than 2 years later. I originally bought it with a 3200+ to keep initial costs low with the plan of upgrading to a dual core in a year or so. The platform was almost dead when I finally upgraded the CPU (i managed to get an x2 4800 just before they got rebranded as opteron's and had their price increased).
On the other hand, I've been running a socket 775 for several years.
If these intel boards come out in 2011, the lifespan of the i7/i5 boards would have been pretty equal to the lifespan of socket 939.
@Ducman69 That's what SHE said
@motorolo Uh, yes.
@Nitesh My very old AM2 (with AM2+ support) motherboard works with my AMD X3 720 just fine which is an AM3 processor.
@lamerz Uh, no. *some* AM2+ boards may support *some* AM3 procs. If they have BIOS support for it, and the stars align correctly. Which is a far cry from all AM2/AM2+ boards supporting all AM3 procs.
I take some of you haven't been around the block enough to understand that in theory, practice and theory are the same. But in practice they are not.
@motorolo
In my experience, *most* AM2 motherboards have a BIOS update available for AM3 processor support, unless the board maker is a bum. And if they support one AM3 processor, they usually support all the ones that are out right now (maybe excepting that new 12 core Magny Cours, i'm not sure about that).But YMMV.
@motorolo
In all my years of building, I've only seen one AM2 motherboard(unfortunately the one I used for my parents computer) that didn't upgrade to the AM2+ Phenom's. But that's just my experience. Your mileage may vary.
@Ducman69 Why would they do that when they can socket to ya.
I know I know, I should be beaten brutally.
@motorolo Not exactly. Despite keeping the same socket, Intel users were still forced to upgrade to newer motherboards when Conroe chips came out in 2006 because of their lower voltage requirement. No one remembers these things.
@motorolo
"I take some of you haven't been around the block enough to understand that in theory, practice and theory are the same."
Unfortunately you seem to also have not been around the block long enough.
A bit of history:
Intel:
Socket 478
- Released the Pentium 4, but when the P4-HT 3.06GHz was released, it required a Canterwood chipset which is also a Socket 478. Then came Prescott which is still a S478 which is also incompatible with mobo's before the Canterwood.
LGA775:
- Released with the Pentium 4, then the Pentium Dual-Core later. When Core 2 came out, not all old 775 boards could support the new voltage requirements. Also, not all C2Q's would work on Core 2 boards.
AMD
Socket 939
- Came out 2004, the Athlon X2's meanwhile were released on 2005. Though AMD still provided 939 compatible Athlon X2's.
AM2+
- When the Phenom processors were released, most AM2+ boards only required a bios update. Even an AM3 processor could most likely be inserted into an AM2+ socket.
AMD has been better with support for backwards compatibility as they earn from their processor division. Intel however earns a lot of dough with their chipset division also, so it makes sense for them to change motherboards every once in a while (or usually a year or 2)
This is gonna make a serious dent in my tax return..
Not the first time a new chip requires a completely different socket and/or motherboard. Why is this news?
@Greg2k Because they kept LGA775 for years, then switched to 1366, then 1156 the next year, and now 1155 this year.
This is nice technology, but if prices keep climbing, even Bill Gates won't even be able to afford a computer like that (figuratively of course).
Ugh, again? x2
x (times) infinity, damn it.
What happened to LGA 1366!? So lame!
@Nerdtalker
I have the i7 920 with LGA 1366 socket.
If Intel changes the socket, I'm going AMD next build.
Besides it is the gpu's that really matter now, much more then a cpu.
@SiXiam You seriously were expecting to keep your motherboard "current" for 3 years?
@Nerdtalker
I want an LGA 1337 :(
@CraniusLupus change that to ;)
@motorolo My AM2 socket mobo is just that. I've only upgraded the CPU and the GFX card and I run Bad Company 2 at an _average_ of 70fps
@Nerdtalker It's successor will be LGA2011 (yep, that's right, 2011 in 2011!).
Yay, Intel!
Hopefully they will ship with LightPeak!
Read the source article but just by looking at the pic, it makes you sorta pissed off thinking that you'll have to pay $500+ for a change of 2.5mm...
@Plazmic Flame
The size is their to break compatibility because the two aren't technically compatible, in the same way the size of a USB port is different from the size of a firewire port.
@Plazmic Flame
AHAHAHA
"2.5mm"
this coming from an
Apple fanboy...
@AppleDrank
Apple fanboi?? Me?? LMAO!!! Please read my comment history THROUGHLY first before spouting out "assumptions". Also, what does 2.5mm have to do with an Apple fanboi that's so funny?
Don't do drugs kids.
@Plazmic Flame "dont do drugs kids"
dude, i coulda sworn that nerf football was just talking to me.
and i wish that the damn engadget logo would shut up already, telling me i aint no good.
@Plazmic Flame
4/20 was yesterday. You tell me this NOW!?
If you'll excuse me, I have a couple bags of Doritos to eat.
Intel just like Apple...
How do you unlike?
@Toast Rack Buy AMD.
How times have changed. I recall it used to be AMD that did socket jumping a lot more than Intel, now its the other way around. I mean, AMD is still making new sockets at a normal rate, but they are much better at maintaining backwards compatibility. New AMD CPU's still support AM2, even though two new sockets have come out since then (AM2+ and AM3).
Sorry, I just recently dumped my buggy Asus P6T deluxe V2 (sleep issues, OMG!) and got a Asus P6X58D Premium (No sleep issues! so far). I will stick with my Socket 1366 and i7 920 for quite some time. Especially since I can't play modern warfare 2 anymore because of all those damn hackers. :|
Bastards....
fml
Pentium 4 beats all.