How to know the socket of my processor: learn for yourself

For users less skilled in hardware, it can be difficult to know what the processor socket is. It really is something quite simple to identify, since we only need to have an Internet connection to know it. This information will help us a lot in knowing what product to buy and the compatibility with a motherboard.

Index of contents

What is the processor socket?

Before going on to see the ways that we have to identify the socket of our CPU, it is convenient that we know what this element is, and also what are the models that we can currently find in the market.

The socket or socket of the CPU is an electromechanical system that is responsible for housing the electrical connections to connect the microprocessor to the motherboard. In the socket, therefore, it will be fixedly installed on a motherboard, soldered to it, and the processor must be installed on it.

Thanks to this system, each of us will be able to buy separately the motherboard and the processor that we want, otherwise it should be soldered to it, and this is not too good for business. The current connection system is called ZIF or (Zero Insertion Force) because we will not need to force to install or uninstall the CPU from its socket. So, if at any given time you have to force a CPU into its socket, something is wrong, almost certainly.

Current sockets and types

As a theory, we should know all the types of sockets that are currently being handled in the market. We already know that there are two different CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD and each will have their own socket for their CPUs, and they will not be compatible with each other.

But we must also attend to two different configurations, the PGA and LGA sockets.

• PGA: Pin Grid Array (Pin Grid Array), the connection is made through a pin array installed in the CPU. These pins must fit into the socket holes on the motherboard. LGA: Land Grid Array, the connection in this case is based on a matrix of pins installed in the socket that make contact with the conductive surfaces of the processor.

Intel sockets

Socket	Year	CPU Supported	Contacts	information
LGA 1366	2008	Intel Core i7 (900 series) Intel Xeon (3500, 3600, 5500, 5600 series)	1366	Replaces server-oriented LGA 771 socket
LGA 1155	2011	Intel i3, i5, i7 2000 Intel Pentium G600 and Celeron G400 and G500	1155	First to support 20 PCI-E Lanes
LGA 1156	2009	Intel Core i7 800 Intel Core i5 700 and 600 Intel Core i3 500 Intel Xeon X3400, L3400 Intel Pentium G6000 Intel Celeron G1000	1156	Replaces the LGA 775 socket
LGA 1150	2013	4th and 5th generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 (Haswell and Broadwell)	1150	Used for 4th and 5th gen 14nm Intel
LGA 1151	2015 and present	Intel Core i3, i5, i7 6000 and 7000 (6th and 7th generation Skylake and Kaby Lake) Intel Core i3, i5, i7 8000 and 9000 (8th and 9th generation Coffee Lake) Intel Pentium G and Celeron in their respective generations	1151	It has two incompatible revisions between them, one for 6th and 7th Gen and one for 8th and 9th Gen
LGA 2011	2011	Intel Core i7 3000 Intel Core i7 4000 Intel Xeon E5 2000/4000 Intel Xeon E5-2000 / 4000 v2	2011	Sandy Bridge-E / EP and Ivy Bridge-E / EP support 40 lanes in PCIe 3.0. Used in Intel Xeon for Workstation
LGA 2066	2017	Intel Intel Skylake-X Intel Kaby Lake-X	2066	For 7th Gen Intel Workstation CPU

AMD sockets

Socket	Year	CPU Supported	Contacts	information
PGA AM3	2009	AMD Phenom II AMD Athlon II AMD Sempron	941/940	It replaces AM2 +. AM3 CPUs are compatible with AM2 and AM2 +
PGA AM3 +	2011-2014	AMD FX Zambezi AMD FX Vishera AMD Phenom II AMD Athlon II AMD Sempron	942	For Bulldozer architecture and support DDR3 Memory
PGA FM1	2011	AMD K-10: Plain	905	Used for the first generation of AMD APUs
PGA FM2	2012	AMD Trinity Processors	904	For the second generation of APUs
PGA AM4	2016-present	AMD Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 1st, 2nd and soon 3rd generation	1331	Compatible with all Ryzen processors up to the new Ryzen 3000
LGA TR4 (SP3 r2)	2017	AMD EPYC and Ryzen Threadripper	4094	For AMD Workstation Processors

How to know my CPU socket

We already have enough information about all the sockets currently used on desktop computers. Of course we have not put the specific notebooks because their CPUs are soldered directly to the motherboard.

The above information is interesting to know in general terms, which socket belongs to which CPU, but it is not necessary to learn all this. And there is something for the manufacturers' websites, and they are the ones we will take advantage of below.

Method 1: manufacturer information

The first way to find out is through the manufacturer's data, either from the CPU or from the motherboard. Let's put examples in each case for an Intel Core i7-9700K CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and an Asus ROG Strix Z390-F Gaming motherboard. Obviously, for this method we will have to know well make and model of CPU or make and model of motherboard.

Well, it will be as simple as taking our browser and placing the complete processor brand and model in the search engine. Here we have many combinations, so we will narrow the search. For them, we are going to go to ark.intel.com and we are going to put in "search for specifications" the processor that we want.

Then we click on it and we will go directly to the specifications. We will look for " Compatible baseboards ", and there we will have the information we are looking for.

In the case of AMD it will be more of the same, we go to amd.com and we will work in your product search engine. Perhaps in this case the information will not come out so clearly immediately, for example, if there were several versions of CPU available. Once found, it is just a matter of going to " specifications " and in " package " we will find what we are looking for.

If what we have is the motherboard model and we want to see the compatible processors and sockets, we can also do it easily. Again in the browser search engine or in the manufacturer's own, we search for the product. Best of all, practically all manufacturers have a very similar website, so that the user is familiar with the sections and where to find things.

In this case, we are going to click on " specifications " we will find this information in the CPU section.

And it is not all, since if we give "support" we will be able to search for the complete list of processors compatible with the socket.

Method 2: from the operating system

The most comfortable method if we have our computer running will be to use specially dedicated software. And without a doubt the easiest to use, free and famous is CPU-Z. Just download it from its official site and install it.

Again in "package" we will get the CPU socket, which, of course, will be the same as the motherboard socket, so we kill two birds with one stone (poor birds). Thanks to CPU-Z it is also possible to know the brand and model of CPU and make and model of motherboard, the latter is found in the Mainboard section.

Conclusion about how to know the socket of my processor

As we can see, it is a fairly simple job, and in addition we will need practically no knowledge about all current sockets. Yes it is true that we recommend at least knowing the latest used by each manufacturer, such as the LGA 1551 and LGA 2066 from Intel and the PGA AM4 and LGA TR4 from AMD that are practically what is available in the market.

We have some interesting tutorials on identifying the compatibility of the components of our PC and making no mistake when installing any of them:

And it will also be interesting these links in our guides and recommended articles

If you still have questions about this topic or want us to do a specific tutorial, we accept all kinds of suggestions, that helps us grow.