Quote:
Originally Posted by newtekie1
It used to be that way, Socket 7 and earlier sockets could accept both Intel and AMD processors, along with some others from Cyrix and IBM. However, after socket 7, Intel decided to no longer allow competitors use sockets they designed without paying Licensing fees. So AMD decided to make their own socket(or slot actually) and when Intel introded the Slot 1, AMD went with Slot A. Mechanically they were the same, however electrically they differed. Some say that AMD just ripped the design off from Intel, and modified it ever so slightly to avoid paying the licensing fees. Others say AMD did it to help keep motherboard manufacturing costs down, as the same piece of hardware could be stocked for both types of motherboards, they just had to wire it differently.
So there actually was a Universal CPU socket(s) for a long while, but the industry has moved away from it, and I doubt it will ever move back. The sides of the CPU world(AMD and Intel) have become to technologically devided. All the integrated components on the CPU and the way the CPUs operate have become too different to allow a universal CPU socket.
Edit: Damn Mussels beat me to it.
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Yes... I remember those days. It was neat how you could upgrade and keep the same mobo.
This new CPU is so cheap as they will make money off the mobos, and they are staying in competition with AMD.