Intel's "Tejas" CPU To Make Upgrades A Snap

ToshiroOC · Feb 28, 2003, 06:50 AM

Good news, PC enthusiasts: Intel's "Tejas" processor will do away with pins entirely, making swapping out a new processor quite literally a snap.

But you'll have to wait. "Tejas", Intel's successor to the Pentium 4-style "Prescott" processor, will officially launch in the second half of 2004, according to confidential Intel documents viewed recently by ExtremeTech.

Tejas uses a 775-contact pinless Land Grid Array (LGA) that far exceeds the 478 pins used on the Pentium 4, and Prescott. However, the additional pins were required for the additional I/O and power requirements of Tejas, the documents say.

A direct socket loading technique, similar to a waffle iron, traps the LGA package inside a "socket body stiffener" and prevents it from breaking contact with the motherboard. The design also insulates the processor itself from potential damage from the heat sink. If a user aligns the processor correctly -- the "keying" mechanism to prevent the processor from being misaligned hasn't been passed along to OEMs -- upgrades should take place in a matter of seconds, by snapping the load plate over the top of the processor package.

However, users will have to snap out their wallets, too. Although Intel plans a chipset, "Grantsdale", that supports both the Prescott and Tejas processors, the radical redesign of the processor socket will require users to purchase new motherboards.

"All of this centers now on what we're dealing with in the market in the future: higher and higher bus speed interfaces regardless of the processor," said Dean McCarron, analyst with Mercury Research, Scottsdale, Ariz. "One of the big challenges with higher speed bus interfaces is having reliable electrical environments. That in turn drives changes, such as the electrical interface of the chip," and the need to control the inductance and impedance of a signal, he said.

--By Mark Hachman, source: Extremetech

Article can be read here.

Feb 28, 2003, 06:50 AM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Intel's "Tejas" CPU To Make Upgrades A Snap Good news, PC enthusiasts: Intel's "Tejas" processor will do away with pins entirely, making swapping out a new processor quite literally a snap. But you'll have to wait. "Tejas", Intel's successor to the Pentium 4-style "Prescott" processor, will officially launch in the second half of 2004, according to confidential Intel documents viewed recently by ExtremeTech. Tejas uses a 775-contact pinless Land Grid Array (LGA) that far exceeds the 478 pins used on the Pentium 4, and Prescott. However, the additional pins were required for the additional I/O and power requirements of Tejas, the documents say. A direct socket loading technique, similar to a waffle iron, traps the LGA package inside a "socket body stiffener" and prevents it from breaking contact with the motherboard. The design also insulates the processor itself from potential damage from the heat sink. If a user aligns the processor correctly -- the "keying" mechanism to prevent the processor from being misaligned hasn't been passed along to OEMs -- upgrades should take place in a matter of seconds, by snapping the load plate over the top of the processor package. However, users will have to snap out their wallets, too. Although Intel plans a chipset, "Grantsdale", that supports both the Prescott and Tejas processors, the radical redesign of the processor socket will require users to purchase new motherboards. "All of this centers now on what we're dealing with in the market in the future: higher and higher bus speed interfaces regardless of the processor," said Dean McCarron, analyst with Mercury Research, Scottsdale, Ariz. "One of the big challenges with higher speed bus interfaces is having reliable electrical environments. That in turn drives changes, such as the electrical interface of the chip," and the need to control the inductance and impedance of a signal, he said. --By Mark Hachman, source: Extremetech Article can be read here.