Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for the x86 processor socket matching the pins on Pentium microprocessors manufactured by Intel, and compatibles made by Cyrix, AMD and others. Any CPU chip conforming to this specification can be plugged into any conforming motherboard.

Supported processors include: 2.5V - 3.5V Pentiums 75-233 MHz, AMD K5 through K6, Cyrix 6x86 (and MX) P120 - P233.

Socket 7 uses a SPGA socket, either a 296 pin LIF or a 321 pin ZIF arranged as 37x37 or 19x19 (depending on who you speak to!).

An extension of of Socket 7, Super Socket 7 was designed to allow the AMD K6-2 and AMD K6-III chips to operate at a higher clock rate and use AGP. The two standards are rather compatable, but the extra features are only available if both motherboard and CPU are Super Socket 7.

Intel's Pentium II processors use Slot 1 mounting.

AMD's early Athlon processors use Slot A mounting, later chips use Socket A.

[Pin-out?]

This definition (or an earlier version of it) comes from FOLDOC. Used by permission.