CPU Types and Motherboard Compatibility

The nature of the current CPU market means that there is rapid turnover of models
Each vendor releases a CPU design with a number of architectural improvements and quite often with a new socket design
- referred to as a CPU’s generation
- each generation, the manufacturer releases several models
Motherboards are specific to either Intel or AMD CPUs
Typically, motherboard compatibility is limited to the same generation of CPUs
- CPU must be supported by both the physical form factor of the motherboard’s CPU socket and by the motherboard’s chipset
- limited opportunities to upgrade the CPU model while keeping the same motherboard
  - such upgrades rarely offer much value.
Within each generation, CPU brands and models target different market segments, such as desktop, server, and mobile

Desktops

Desktop is shorthand for a basic PC as used at home or in the office.

term desktop derives from a time when computer cases were designed to sit horizontally on a desk, rather than the vertical tower or all-in-one configurations used today
desktop segment covers a wide range of performance levels, from budget to gaming PC
- These performance levels are reflected in the CPU manufacturer’s ranges
  - multiple models of Intel Core (i3/i5/i7/i9) and AMD Ryzen (A and 1 up to 9) CPUs at price points ranging from tens of dollars (i3 or Ryzen 3 series) to thousands (Ryzen Threadripper Pro)
  - Intel also uses its historic brands, such as Pentium and Celeron, to market budget chips
Current Intel desktop socket designs include LGA 2011, LGA 1151, LGA 2066, LGA 1200, and LGA 1700
Most current AMD CPUs use the PGA form factor socket AM4

The term workstation can be used in the same way as desktop to refer to any type of business PC or network client.

in the context of PC sales, most vendors use the term workstation to mean a high-performance PC
- one used for software development or graphics/video editing
Workstation-class PCs often use similar components to server-class computers

Server-class computers must manage more demanding workloads than most types of desktops and operate to greater reliability standards.

Server motherboards are often multi-socket
- multiple CPU packages can be installed
Each of these CPUs will have multiple cores and support for multithreading, giving the server the raw processing power it needs to service requests from hundreds or thousands of client systems
server-class motherboards include support for tens or hundreds of gigabytes of ECC RAM and additional levels and amounts of cache memory
There are dedicated CPU ranges for servers
- Intel’s Xeon and AMD’s Epyc brands
- These ranges are also usually tied to specific supporting motherboards
- A motherboard for an Intel Xeon CPU is unlikely to be compatible with an Intel Core CPU
- Intel’s recent Xeon models use LGA 1150, LGA 1151, and LGA 2011 sockets
- AMD’s Epyc CPU uses the LGA Socket SP3 form factor

Smartphones, tablets, and laptops need to prioritize power and thermal efficiency plus weight over pure performance
Many mobiles use ARM-based CPUs for this reason
both Intel and AMD have separate mobile CPU models within each generation of their platforms
Mobile CPUs tend to use different socket form factors to desktops
Many are soldered to the motherboard and not replaceable or upgradeable