Socketed Chips

Except for Pentium CPUs, socketed chips are rare these days. I can't remember the last time I saw a socketed IC in a computer or piece of test equipment. Most everything is surface-mount now.

I'd love to socket BGA chips, but the sockets tend to cost $1000 or thereabouts.

John

Avoid sockets in production; it's another layer of "mechanical" failure, extra bulk, expense and inventory.

Cheers Robin

Are you talking about "thru-hole" components vs. surface mount? We still manufacture boards that use "thru-hole" components, but solder them directly to the PC board without a socket (the space / hi-rel industry is slow to embrace SM parts, but it is happening).

Just because a component is "thru-hole" doesn't mean it has to be socketed.

As for parts that might have to be replaced (i.e. PROMS), there are in-circuit-programmable solutions that can be soldered onto the board

-- no need for a socket.

Thanks everyone.

So upon factoring out the increase incidence of connectivity problems, there doesn't seem to be any real use for socketed chips any more.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

socketed chips are still used, usually if replacing them might be necessary or in first production runs afterwards most of them are soldered onto the board today indeed industry is tending to use smd more under some conditions socketing is *not* advisable, say hi-speed circuitry or locations having high mechanical stress (vibration) and indeed most computers nowadays do not use socketed chips due to the high speeds involved and volume reduction

I couldn't figure out what the question was about. It's here in sci.electronics.basics and that did imply to me hobby use, at which point it often makes sense, if for no other reason than that you can so easily move the ICs to another project when you tire of the first, or suddenly need the IC. The fact that industry rarely uses sockets these days is irrelevant for hobby use.

But there also seemed to be something in the original post that implied commercial use, at which point the benefits of sockets to the individual do not apply. One only has to mention the Apple III and its socket problem to point out that they can be a negative thing in industry.

Michael

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THis actually involves a couple of inventions I came up with, but if the idea of an easily removable/pluggable chip is no longer valid, then it isn't worth it to pursue.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris Staten Island, new York.

There's nothing wrong with sockets if they have a purpose. Lots of people socket EPROMS or other programmable chips.

John