Socket 775 is a long-lived by computer standards. It was announced back in 2004, and its receiver in the person of LGA 1156 appeared in 2009. By the standards of the semiconductor industry, 5 years is a whole era. Throughout this period, this computing platform has been continuously evolving and constantly offering new solutions. At the moment, of course, it is out of date. But computers based on it are still actively used and allow solving the most simple tasks in terms of complexity.
Start of sales of a computer platform, its development
In 2004, the socket Socket 478 from a technical point of view has exhausted all the possibilities for further development. A new socket was also needed, which would support 64-bit information processing technologies instead of 32-bit computing that were outdated at that time. Based on these two nuances, manufacturers announced the sale of computer components for Socket 775. Another important feature of the platform was that on one semiconductor chip there could be several computing modules at once. Their greatest number in this case could reach 4.
System Logic Kits from Intel
Four generations of Intel’s system logic could lie at the heart of such a computer component for the LGA 775 as the motherboard. Socket 775 supported branded chipsets such as:
- I8XX - the first sets of logic system for this platform. They had a lot in common with their predecessors for Socket 478. Later versions of processors for Socket 775 were not supported by them due to low clock speeds of the system bus.
- I9XX is the first update of the chipset line for LGA 775. The system bus frequencies in this case increased. But support for the most productive dual-core and quad-core CPUs was still out of the question.
- X3X - these products were released almost simultaneously with the first CPUs of the Core 2 lineup of Duo lines (with 2 cores) and Quad (4 cores).
- X4X is the latest generation of the most productive sets of system logic for this platform with the highest possible speed in this case.
Third Party Chipsets
This platform essentially became the last in the list of those for which the system logic sets were produced by third-party companies. Starting with LGA 1156, Intel has monopolized this area for its decisions. Therefore, it was possible to meet motherboards based on chipsets from 4 other development companies in the list of offers of such a renowned manufacturer as Asus 775. Socket for these CPU models was supported by such chipset models:
- SIS offered the 64A, 65X, 66X and 67X line semiconductor products for the LGA 775. Each of them appeared after the product update from the Intel development company. The level of functionality they had was similar to its generations of chipsets.
- Also for the LGA775, VIA offered its solutions. The first of these was the RT800 / PM800. The last one is the P4M900.
- Chipsets from ATI were also produced for this processor socket. There were only three of them: Xpress 200, Xpress 1250 and Xpress 3200. The name of the last of them also included the word crossfire. That is, this chipset made it possible to create very productive graphic stations with several video accelerators.
- The last manufacturer in this case is NVidia. The list of solutions included products that belonged to the NForce 4, NForce 5XX, NForce 6XX, NForce 7XX and NForce 9XXX lines.
RAM
Socket 775, unlike most modern computing platforms, was based on a layout of 2 chips. They were part of system logic. The north bridge included a memory controller. He was external. And such an engineering approach reduced the performance of a computer system. But, on the other hand, it allowed to rebuild the motherboard with the use of newer and progressive RAM with minimal costs. As a result, in such PCs one could meet both DDR2 and DDR3. The maximum amount of this important resource in a PC could reach 4 GB, and only one type of RAM could be used.
Processor models
An impressive list of chips was released for the 775 Socket. The processors of the following models could be found as part of such PCs:
- The least efficient systems were based on CELERON chips. They could be with either one computing unit or two. The modest technical parameters (low clock frequencies, small cache size) made it possible to use them only as part of office PCs.
- PENTIUM CPUs were a notch higher. They were also single- or dual-core in terms of the number of cores. But the increased cache size and higher frequencies made it possible to obtain a significant increase in performance. They could be found even in entry-level gaming systems.
- Mid-end solutions included Core 2 chips with Duo. They already had 2 computing units and an improved architecture. This allowed them to be used as part of mid-level gaming computers.
- Representatives of the Core 2 line also provided the highest level of performance. But they already had a Quad prefix. That is, they were already quad-core CPUs with the best specifications and maximum performance.
- Separately, the LGA 775 CPU list contains Xeon chips. With their help, on the basis of Socket 775 it was even possible to assemble entry-level servers.
Current situation
Of course, today completely and completely Socket 775 is out of date. A cooler, motherboard, RAM or central processor for this computing platform can still be purchased. But the feasibility of assembling such a new personal computer raises serious doubts. It is more correct in this situation to look towards fresh solutions based on the most advanced processor socket LGA1151. But in the event of a PC breakdown based on LGA 775 and operational recovery of such a computer, the purchase of components can be a completely justified step. Otherwise, this computer ecosystem has completely disappeared at the moment and is irrelevant.
Summary
Many of the developments that are implemented in Socket 775, were further continued in subsequent products from Intel. To underestimate this computing platform today is not worth it. But a lot of time has passed since its release. And it really is outdated, ceasing to be relevant.