They connect the processor to the system and allow communication between components.
They connect the processor to the system and allow communication between components.
Great response, thanks for clarifying. You're right to question—there might be better approaches. Think about using pads against pads, or adjusting pin lengths like short, round, or conic shapes. It could help address the length issue without relying on other fixes. Not a trivial idea, but worth exploring.
Really? That’s even more problematic, didn’t think about it at all.
Apple claims soldered, non-repairable CPUs are superior choices
I just checked a BGA chip image. I recognize the small metal pins, but they’re definitely not what we’re aiming for. Could using a conic shape instead help? It would make the pin section shorter and more robust. I’m not familiar with CPU construction yet, but I’m trying to understand why this approach might be better. I’m sure there are solid reasons behind it.
The issue involves needing adaptable components that can handle the gap between two parts. If everything were rigid, it would be difficult to guarantee all pins make contact. On both LGA and PGA, the flexible section is inside the socket, which makes it more delicate. In PGA it's shielded but requires long enough pins to reach the protected area and ensure proper contact, while still keeping the connections stable. These aspects can become fragile over time, though not completely.
The BGA chips have balls of solder ... you put the chip over pads on the circuit board and when the solder is heated there's a chemical reaction between the solder and the pads and the metals bind together so you get a very reliable and strong connection... With removable processors, you rely either on friction (pga sockets, friction between the metal bits surrounding the pin) or pressure (lga sockets, chip pressing down on the elastic contacts) .. ram slots also rely on friction. You could make very tiny and thin pins, using other stronger materials .. and you could maybe have holes in the cpu bottom where pins would go in, and have more or less 1-2 mm of pins going inside the cpu base. Then, have the cpu tightened from the back of the motherboard using 4 thin screws.. you'd get very low height... but again, you risk the pins on the motherboard getting damaged, bent etc and those pins would be hard to solder onto the motherboard.
Usually, if something works fine, don’t try to fix it. Intel and AMD have far more information than we do, thanks to the huge volume of RMA data they collect, and it’s better to stick with what they’re doing since failures aren’t frequent enough to cause issues.