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Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for an x86-style CPU
Central processing unit

A central processing unit is an electronic circuit that can execute computer programs. This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage....
 socket on a personal computer motherboard
Motherboard

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board in some complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple Inc....
. The socket supersedes the earlier Socket 5
Socket 5

Socket 5 was created for the second generation of Intel Pentium processors operating at speeds from 75 to 133 MHz as well as certain Pentium OverDrive and Pentium MMX processors....
, and accepts Pentium
Pentium

Introduced on March 22, 1993, the original Pentium was the first superscalar x86 architecture microprocessor. Its fifth-generation x86 microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipeline s, a faster FPU unit, wider data bus, and features for further reduced address calculation latency....
 microprocessor
Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
s manufactured by Intel, as well as compatibles made by Cyrix
Cyrix

Cyrix was a Central processing unit manufacturer that began in 1988 in Richardson, Texas as a specialist supplier of high-performance math coprocessors for Intel 80286 and Intel 80386 systems....
/IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, AMD, IDT
Integrated Device Technology

IDT was founded in 1980 as a semiconductor vendor. Employing approximately 2500 people worldwide, headquartered in San Jose, California, and operating a Fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company both designs and fabricates semiconductor components....
 and others.

Socket 7 was the only socket that supported a wide range of CPUs from different manufacturers and a wide range of speeds.

Differences between Socket 5 and Socket 7 are that Socket 7 has an extra pin and is designed to provide dual split rail voltage, as opposed to Socket 5's single voltage.






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Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for an x86-style CPU
Central processing unit

A central processing unit is an electronic circuit that can execute computer programs. This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage....
 socket on a personal computer motherboard
Motherboard

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board in some complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple Inc....
. The socket supersedes the earlier Socket 5
Socket 5

Socket 5 was created for the second generation of Intel Pentium processors operating at speeds from 75 to 133 MHz as well as certain Pentium OverDrive and Pentium MMX processors....
, and accepts Pentium
Pentium

Introduced on March 22, 1993, the original Pentium was the first superscalar x86 architecture microprocessor. Its fifth-generation x86 microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipeline s, a faster FPU unit, wider data bus, and features for further reduced address calculation latency....
 microprocessor
Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
s manufactured by Intel, as well as compatibles made by Cyrix
Cyrix

Cyrix was a Central processing unit manufacturer that began in 1988 in Richardson, Texas as a specialist supplier of high-performance math coprocessors for Intel 80286 and Intel 80386 systems....
/IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, AMD, IDT
Integrated Device Technology

IDT was founded in 1980 as a semiconductor vendor. Employing approximately 2500 people worldwide, headquartered in San Jose, California, and operating a Fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company both designs and fabricates semiconductor components....
 and others.

Socket 7 was the only socket that supported a wide range of CPUs from different manufacturers and a wide range of speeds.

Differences between Socket 5 and Socket 7 are that Socket 7 has an extra pin and is designed to provide dual split rail voltage, as opposed to Socket 5's single voltage. (However, not all motherboard manufacturers supported the dual voltage on their boards initially.) Socket 7 is backwards compatible
Backward compatibility

In technology, for example in telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backwards compatible if it allows input generated by older devices....
; a Socket 5 CPU can be placed in a Socket 7 motherboard.

Processors that used Socket 7 are the AMD K5
AMD K5

The K5 was Advanced Micro Devices first X86 architecture processor to be developed entirely in-house. Introduced in March 1996, its primary competition was Intel Corporation Pentium microprocessor....
 and K6
AMD K6

The K6 microprocessor was launched by AMD in 1997. The main advantage of this particular microprocessor is that it was designed to fit into existing desktop designs for Pentium branded CPUs....
, the Cyrix 6x86
Cyrix 6x86

The Cyrix 6x86 is a sixth-generation, 32-bit 80x86-compatible microprocessor designed by Cyrix and manufactured by International Business Machines and SGS-Thomson....
 and 6x86MX, the IDT WinChip
WinChip

The WinChip series was a CPU electrical consumption Socket 7-based x86 central processing unit designed by Centaur Technology and marketed by its parent company Integrated Device Technology....
, the Intel Pentium
Pentium

Introduced on March 22, 1993, the original Pentium was the first superscalar x86 architecture microprocessor. Its fifth-generation x86 microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipeline s, a faster FPU unit, wider data bus, and features for further reduced address calculation latency....
 (2.5 V to 3.5 V, 75 to 200 MHz), the Pentium MMX (166 to 233 MHz), and the Rise Technology
Rise Technology

Rise Technology, was a short lived microprocessor manufacturer that produced the Intel x86 MMX compatible mP6 processor.The Santa Clara, California based company was started by David Lin in 1993 with funding from 15 Taiwanese investors, including United Microelectronics Corporation, Acer and VIA Technologies....
 mP6
MP6

The MP6 was a microprocessor designed by Rise Technology to compete with the Intel Pentium line. The firm spent 5 years developing the processor....
.

Socket 7 typically uses a 321-pin (arranged as 19 by 19 pins) SPGA ZIF socket or the very rare 296-pin (arranged as 37 by 37 pins) SPGA LIF
Low insertion force

Low-insertion-force sockets are integrated circuit sockets that are designed so the force required to insert or remove a package is low. As the number of pins increases on a package, and the package itself is large, or both, the use of low insertion force sockets changes from something that is convenient for chips that are changed frequentl...
 socket.

An extension of Socket 7, Super Socket 7
Super Socket 7

The Super Socket 7, also referred to as Super 7, is an extension of the Socket 7 Zero insertion force socket specification. It features a 100 Megahertz front-side bus, support for Accelerated Graphics Port, and a SPGA package....
, was developed by AMD for their K6-2
AMD K6-2

The K6-2 was an x86 microprocessor introduced by Advanced Micro Devices on May 28, 1998, and available in speeds ranging from 266 to 550 Megahertz....
 and K6-III
AMD K6-III

The K6-III, code-named "Sharptooth", was an x86 microprocessor manufactured by AMD, which was the last and perhaps fastest of all Socket 7 desktop processors....
 processors to operate at a higher clock rate and use AGP
Accelerated Graphics Port

The Accelerated Graphics Port is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a :Category:Graphics cards to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics....
.