Does CPU Architecture matter?

[Cepheus_001]

I'm using an MSI H81M-P33 motherboard and it has a Haswell CPU, the Intel Pentium G3250. Do I have to follow up with another CPU that is also Haswell, or can it be a different achitecture, but the same CPU socket?

 

- A question for a noob.

[DannyRyu]

same CPU socket should work. but you won't really find it. each socket pretty much has its own architecture from my understanding.

[Cepheus_001]

Quote

same CPU socket should work. but you won't really find it. each socket pretty much has its own architecture from my understanding.

 

thanks!

[Enderman]

You need the same socket.

And no you can't use a different architecture because you would need a different socket.

[Curious Pineapple]

The P4 and Core 2 Quad can both be used on LGA775 boards, they are completely different architectures. If the socket is the same then it's down to chipset and BIOS support, sometimes a manufacturer blacklisting CPU's to sell more expensive boards is the only reason thing's won't work.

 

Also, jamming an LGA771 Xeon into a 775 socket works on certain boards/BIOS's, so sometimes even different sockets are compatible, but just different enough to price Xeon boards 10 times the cost of a consumer board.

[mariushm]

Processors of different architectures COULD be installed on same motherboard, but it's a conscious decision made by Intel to invent new sockets for new series of processors they make, to sell more chipsets and piss people off in general. 

 

With Intel, in general you can't, you're limited by the CPU socket on your motherboard.  Like one of the above said, some CPUs are close enough that they work in other sockets, like installing a socket LGA771 processor in a LGA775 socket.

 

There's even some clever mod, a small piece of tape that you're supposed to tape on the bottom of the LGA771 cpu, and this tape basically switches around a few contacts on the bottom of the processor (with some very thin wires on the surface of the tape), tricking this way motherboards to think the processor is LGA775 .. here's a link to such product : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-CPU-LGA-771-to-775-socket-Adapter-MOD-sticker-Xeon-Quad-to-Core2-upgrade-/151592225205?hash=item234b99c9b5:g:Q~EAAOSwZVhWSOBH

 

AMD is more relaxed about this, their motherboards usually support a wide range of processors of several generations.  Socket AM3+ motherboards for example support socket AM3 and AM3+ processors, basically any processor of theirs that supports DDR3. AM2 motherboards only supported DDR2 as far as I'm aware, they needed to change the socket to make it possible to support DDR3, among other things.

Now they're moving to AM4 socket to support DDR4 and integrated video and other more modern things (like placing chipset inside processor, so a few sata and usb ports come from processor instead of chipset that would normally have a slower connection to the processor).

[TheRandomness]

6 hours ago, Slayerstealth said:

thanks!

The LGA 1150 socket (what you have) supports both Haswell and Broadwell (the i5-5675c and i7-5775c are the only members of the desktop Broadwell family)

[Curious Pineapple]

I recently launched a few laptops in the bin. Can't remember the socket but they supported AMD, Intel, Via and Cyrix processors. Many things are possible when manufacturers don't act like goof balls

[mariushm]

It was probably some laptop variation of super socket 7, the last socket that AMD used which was compatible with Intel processors?  (AMD has K6-2 and K6-3, intel had Pentium MMX and Cyrix/IBM made processors for that socket, IDT Winchip worked on Super Socket 7 and I'm sure a couple more chips worked on that socket).

 

VIA had some licensing agreements with Intel (not sure how they got them, maybe after winning some lawsuits, i know there was animosity between them and Intel) that allowed them to use socket Socket 370 which they used on Via C3 processors. Now they moved to BGA and their own sockets.

After that, as far as I know, Intel refused to license sockets and slots to other companies, so even if other companies wanted to make processors compatible with them, they couldn't legally do it.