Super Socket 7, also referred to as Super 7, is a hardware-level extension of the

Socket 7 Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for an x86-style CPU socket on a personal computer motherboard. It was released in June 1995. The socket supersedes the earlier Socket 5, and accepts P5 Pentium microprocessors manufactured by ...

ZIF ZIF, ZiF or Zif may refer to: * Zero insertion force Zero insertion force (ZIF) is a type of IC socket or electrical connector that requires very little (but not literally zero) force for insertion. With a ZIF socket, before the IC is inserte ...

socket specification for x86 processors. Compatible motherboards and chipsets use a standard Socket 7 connection for the CPU, while adding certain features including a maximum 100

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

front-side bus A front-side bus (FSB) is a computer communication interface (bus) that was often used in Intel-chip-based computers during the 1990s and 2000s. The EV6 bus served the same function for competing AMD CPUs. Both typically carry data between the ...

and support for AGP graphics cards. Super Socket 7 was used by

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...

K6-2 The K6-2 is an x86 microprocessor introduced by AMD on May 28, 1998, and available in speeds ranging from 266 to 550 MHz. An enhancement of the original K6, the K6-2 introduced AMD's 3DNow! SIMD instruction set, featured a larger 64 KiB ...

and

K6-III The K6-III (code name: "Sharptooth") was an x86 microprocessor line manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, AMD that launched on February 22, 1999. The launch consisted of both 400 and 450 MHz models and was based on the preceding K6-2 archi ...

processors, some of the final Cyrix M-II processors, some of the final IDT WinChip 2 processors, and

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

mP6 The Rise mP6 was a superpipelined and superscalar microprocessor designed by Rise Technology to compete with the Intel Pentium line. History Rise Technology had spent 5 years developing a x86 compatible microprocessor, and finally introduced ...

processors. It is

backward compatible Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially in ...

with Socket 7 CPUs, meaning a Socket 7 CPU can be used with a Super Socket 7 motherboard, but a Super Socket 7 CPU cannot operate at full speed in a Socket 7 motherboard.

Socket 5 Socket 5 was created for the second generation of Intel P5 Pentium processors operating at speeds from 75 to 133 MHz as well as certain Pentium OverDrive and Pentium MMX processors with core voltage 3.3 V. It superseded the earlier Sock ...

CPUs are pin-compatible with Super Socket 7, but not all motherboards designed for Super Socket 7 supported the voltages or bus speeds needed for Socket 5 CPUs. AMD K6-2 Back (super socket 7)

While AMD had previously always used

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

sockets for their processors, Socket 7 was the last one for which AMD retained legal rights. Intel had hoped by discontinuing Socket 7 development and moving to

Slot 1 Slot 1 refers to the physical and electrical specification for the connector used by some of Intel's microprocessors, including the Pentium Pro, Celeron, Pentium II and the Pentium III. Both single and dual processor configurations were impleme ...

that AMD would be left with an outdated platform, making their processors non-competitive. By extending the FSB from 66 to 100 MHz, Super Socket 7 gave AMD the stopgap solution they needed while developing their own independent

motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

infrastructure,

Slot A Slot A is the physical and electrical specification for a 242-lead single-edge-connector used by early versions of AMD's Athlon processor. The Slot A connector allows for a higher bus rate than Socket 7 or Super Socket 7. Slot A motherboards use ...

. While the architecture was cheap, and served the intended purpose, many of the third party chipsets provided by

VIA Via or VIA may refer to the following: Science and technology * MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter * ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * Via (electronics), a through-connection * VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...

, SiS, and others, were of low quality, especially with regard to the AGP implementations. The reputation AMD gained for buggy, incompatible motherboards lingered, and though an internal program by

to raise standards for their chipsets had begun to show results in the

and

Pentium III The Pentium III (marketed as Intel Pentium III Processor, informally PIII or P3) brand refers to Intel's 32-bit x86 desktop and mobile CPUs based on the sixth-generation P6 microarchitecture introduced on February 28, 1999. The brand's initial p ...

era, AMD put in place a

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

program for the

Athlon Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of x86-compatible microprocessors designed and manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The original Athlon (now called Athlon Classic) was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and the fi ...

processor.

References

{{amdsock AMD sockets

See also

References