Very bad news regarding motherboards

[Hoot]

If you have not already read it, there is an alarming article on the front page about AMD doing away with the four Socket A holes in their motherboard specification.

That explains why I could not locate the dimension specifications Saturday night, when I was at their site. I thought I was going looney or something.

Their reason given is totally absurd! There are going to be a lot of cooling orphans left behind by this move.

If you have not already done so, read the article...

Hoot

 

[mcrites]

I hope Abit and Asus keeps using them for us watercoolers.

 

[Sonny]

Everybody can download the PDF here of AMDs plans.

 

[Diggrr]

Aw man! Just taking one of their best innovations away.

Hey Hoot, here's a pic I made of the pdf's specs. The drawing they had of the socket's spec was way too confusing to use often, so I rearranged it to show what it really should look like.
Understand that most manufacturers don't follow this exactly either, but it's accurate to their spec.

 

[Hoot]

I found it eventually, but not on the AMD Web site. Thanks for that picture Diggrr. I saved it for quick reference inquiries you run into occasionally in the AMD Motherboard or Cooling forums here.

Hoot

 

[BillA]

going to make wb mounting a LOT more "twichy"
hose weight and alignment become more critical

nothing good

be cool

useful dwg Diggrr

 

[Cowboy X]

oops ..... I just posted a similar thread in this forum ...........didn't see this here til just now.

ps removing mounting holes without a viable alternative is rubbish.

 

[ocean]

As long as they keep the areas free from traces we should be able to drill our own holes.

 

[Hoot]

Fat chance. Motherboard manufacturers don't like the "keep out" zone, let alone the holes.

Hoot

 

[ocean]

How long do you think it is untill we start seeing boards with no holes?

 

[bmg]

The dual processor ASUS board already omitted the holes. Fortunately the holes can apparently be drilled without causing problems.

 

[mcrites]

Hehe, I can see it now, drilling the holes into your motherboard before testing it, and its DOA. No RMA for you!

 

[Vash]

EEP! Swiftech, Gemini cool, DangerDen, Alpha, and others are gonna be pretty scr00d by this decision! all the premier heatsinks and waterblocks use the mobo mounting holes!

...wait a second.....

JUST HOW THE HELL IS AMD GOING TO WORK THIS?!

to keep the temps down, intel uses a Heatspreader on their P4 dies, AS WELL as using mobo-mounted heatsinks that apply well over a hundred pounds of pressure! And the P4s don't give off as much heat as AMD's products!

Now think of this...no mounting holes, so you're not gonna be able to get that much pressure on the cpu cores (ZIF tabs break off too easily) ...this is NOT GOOD. How is AMD gonna keep the cpu temps down on future Athlons and Hammers?

 

[Silversinksam]

ATI has the same goofy philosophy of not adding holes in the PCB, making watercooling the gpus tricky as you need to use Arctic Silver adhesive (or alumina)

 

[Crappy]

So that means if you break the socket lugs off and cook the CPU you have to buy a new board and CPU.

Well there are way to fix the socket but you still have to get a new CPU.

This is going to hurt AMD

 

[Larry Quinn]

HMMMMMMM...

Makes me wonder ig the t-breds and Hammers will have a differant socket!

This ties in with the last report I saw that said something about current Motherboards NOT being upgradeable to the next generation processor!

Larry

 

[orangezero]

makes you wonder what these people are thinking about. the newer amd chips will have a spreader on them though, right?

 

[Hoot]

So that means if you break the socket lugs off and cook the CPU you have to buy a new board and CPU.

Well there are way to fix the socket but you still have to get a new CPU.

This is going to hurt AMD

Not hardly. Overclockers represent a "drop in the bucket" of all the AMD customers out there. We would not be missed. This is a "Win-Win" situation for them. No more people ruining their CPUs and then lamely trying to get them RMA'd. Besides, now we won't be able to buy the less expensive chip and overclock it to perform like the more expensive chip.
Ka-ching!

Hoot

 

[IFMU]

Not hardly. Overclockers represent a "drop in the bucket" of all the AMD customers out there. We would not be missed. This is a "Win-Win" situation for them. No more people ruining their CPUs and then lamely trying to get them RMA'd. Besides, now we won't be able to buy the less expensive chip and overclock it to perform like the more expensive chip.
Ka-ching!

Hoot

Sadly enough I would have to agree here. To us we may be many, but to them we are but a small portion of their overall sales.

 

[Vash]

I've gotta disagree there. We overclockers may be a small minority of users, BUT....

we are the ones that aquintances/family members/friends ask for advice when they want a computer. If we like AMD, even just for overclocking, we will recommend them. AMD doesn't have the advertising that Intel has. They need word of mouth, and if that word's bad, then they won't get it.

Thoroughbred will NOT use a new socket. Still great old S462. Hammer is already confirmed to be using new sockets, the clawhammer which has a 7XX pin (can't remember exact count) and sledghammer which has a pin count in the 900s