Processor Socket

Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Processor Socket or Slot
The "brain" of any computer is the central processing unit (CPU). This component does all
the calculations and performs 90 percent of all the functions of a computer. There are many
different types of processors for computers—so many, in fact, that you will learn about them
later in this chapter in the section "Identifying Purposes and Characteristic of Processors."
Typically, in today’s computers, the processor is the easiest component to identify on the motherboard.
It is usually the component that has either a fan or a heat sink (usually both) attached to
it (as shown in Figure 1.10). These devices are used to draw away the heat a processor generates.
This is done because heat is the enemy of microelectronics. Theoretically, a Pentium (or higher) processor
generates enough heat that without the heat sink it would self-destruct in a matter of hours.
Sockets and slots on the motherboard are as plentiful and varied as processors. Sockets are
basically flat and have several rows of holes arranged in a square, as shown in Figure 1.11. The
processor slot is another method of connecting a processor to a motherboard, but one into
which an Intel Pentium II or Pentium III–class processor on a special expansion card can be
inserted (as shown in Figure 1.12). Newer, more complex processors, such as the Intel Itanium,
use a package known as a pin array cartridge (PAC). The socket that receives a PAC
works on the very low insertion force (VLIF) principle. To see which socket type is used for
which processors, examine Table 1.1.