How to Put a Quad Core 2 in Socket P
One of the things that the computer industry is very good about is making it impossible to combine components that are not supposed to work together. This is one reason why there are so many different motherboard and socket combinations out there.
What's the Difference Between Socket P and LGA775?
Intel followed the Pentium 4 line with the Core2 series of CPUs. Available in single-core, dual-core, and even quad-core variants, these processors used a completely different internal architecture than the preceding NetBurst designs. Rather than looking for raw clock speed at any cost, these CPUs made more effective use of L2 cache and offered a higher number of instructions per clock. Most desktop CPUs used the same LGA 775 interface as NetBurst, but mobile parts used a different connector known as Socket P, and the two were quite different:
- LGA 775: Introduced with the Prescott core P4, this interface flipped the paradigm by putting the pins inside the socket rather than on the CPU. It's compatible with the majority of desktop Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors.
- Socket P: Developed for mobile Core 2 processors this featured a standard 478 pin design but was incompatible with previous 478-pin sockets.
What's the Difference Between the Two and Four Core Models?
Unlike some other CPUs, there is actually no real difference in the CPU cores between the dual-core and quad-core models of the Intel Core 2 processor. Both are available in both standard pin grid array and land grid array models, neither of which are interchangeable with each other. However, while the CPU cores are identical, the packages aren't. The bigger difference is between different generations.
- Core 2 Duo: This processor features a single die with 6 MB L2 cache shared between the two cores.
- Core 2 Quad: This processor features two dies each with 6 MB L2 cache for each pair of cores. There is no cache or other resource sharing between the two processor dies.
Comparing Core 2 Quad Processors
One thing that you do have to be aware of is that the earlier 65 nanometer processors such as the Q6600 do not feature mobile parts. All the first-generation Core 2 Quad processors were LGA775 models designed for the desktop. It was only with the later shrink to the 45-nanometer process of the Penryn architecture of the Q9000 and Q9100 processors that the Core 2 Quad joined the Core 2 Duo in the mobile space. These chips not only featured a smaller process, but also a more power-efficient architecture so that they could operate more easily in laptops and notebooks.
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