could graphics cards pcbs theoretically be socketable?

[GamGrime69]

I know vram is soldered for latency, but couldn't there be sockets for the actual gpu? The gpu could be given an ihs. This would allow you to choose the board, cooler, and gpu, and you could save a bit of money if the sockets last multiple generations. different tiers of boards could have different vram capacities and speeds.

 

did this ever happen in the past or have gpus always been soldered to their boards

[PineyCreek]

Don't recall any GPUs being socketed.  Socketable/expandable memory, yes, quite a few years ago.

[RONOTHAN##]

26 minutes ago, gamagama69 said:

The gpu could be given an ihs.

There are some that were (see the GTX 480), it's just been ditched for a while since it hurt performance. 

 

Socketed CPUs would have the same issue socketed memory have - it increases memory latency, plus GPUs are designed for very specific types of memory. Besides, GPU silicon is usually the most expensive part of a GPU, so while you might save a little bit by buying a PCB and a chip separately, you wouldn't save that much in the long run anyway and end up with some very complicated sockets.