Intel Enthusiast CPU Predictions

[Sheep221]

Sorry, perhaps I should have stipulated recent articles with the same definite language you used, and not "reports suggest," "rumor has it," and "may be."

Aside from that, there will be socketed server parts as far as the eye can see. So even IF Intel kills socketed mainstream, there will be socketed server and no doubt server-derived socketed enthusiast parts.

Enthusiasts are something you won't kill. There are still today enthusiasts who run amigas or communicate via long-rang radio.
The BGA mainstream desktops would likely cause emerge of special businesses which would be desoldering the CPUs from boards and replace them, or would desolder the CPU, solder custom-made socket on to board and reshape CPU surface to fit in, nothing that's technically challenging.

Technically this era will come soon, the articles I posted may be rumors, but it makes sense abit, because I don't see really a point in selling millions of CPUs clocked by each bin. The entire nehalem/sandy/ivy/haswell lines, which together contain like 300 CPU models if not more could, be replaced by like 10 CPU models, for example
low power single core, low power dual core, low power quad core
standard dual core, standard quad core, standard quad core HT
unlocked quad core, unlocked quad core HT
server quad core, server hex-oct core

I don't see the reason why we are offered 10x i5 binned in 100MHz differences
or Celerons and Pentiums respectively, it's really just marketing, because technically it doesn't make sense, it's same silicon that works in specific frequency and voltage ranges by how it was designed in the first place.
And you would just adjust this stuff to your needs. For example there would be only i5-2500K and i5-2500 sold, if you don't wanna overclock and you wanna low power consumption you just buy 2500 and by downclocking you can make it 2500S, 2400, 2400S, 2300, 2500T and more. It doesn't really make sense at all these are sold separately when its same die just with slightly different default setting. Disable additional cores and make it i3, and more.

2 Types of i5, one locked and one unlocked, 2 types of i7 and 2 types of celerons would do the same thing. And same goes with mobos and chipsets, million types of mobos which do the same thing just cheaper model is stripped of some additional HDMI connector. 1 type of chipset, 3 classes of mobos alongside their specific CPUs offered together in BGA package would simplify everything.
Chipsets and sockets variety is also crap and another marketing trick to steal our money.

 

[aigomorla]

yes, but your initial claim can be interpreted as <7 grams. One pound is >450 grams. So we still disagree by well over one order of magnitude.

I'm sure there are published specs that could lay this to rest pretty quickly. I'm just too lazy to wade through them.

And I'm talking about the pressure required to ensure electrical contact only right now.

well when i was talking about orders of magnitude... i was thinking along the concept of 5x... not 50x..

 

[jpiniero]

Sockets aren't going anywhere. Computer companies want to be able to offer a selection of processors on their computer lines and it makes way more sense to be able stock one board for the product line and then integrate the cpu rather than stock a bunch of soldered on cpu/board combos. With sockets you can keep some overlap in product lines, makes demand forecasting simpler, and you don't have a bunch of boards to ship back when intel does its mid-cycle clockspeed bump. In short, intel will continue to offer socketed processors because that's what its major customers want.

As the majority of PCs get more and more mobile, the benefits of BGA overshadow the drawbacks. OEMs will just have to deal.

 

[jpiniero]

I should point out that there hasn't been much leaked about what Skylake and future will have. It'll have DDR4, and I'm guessing it will also move the chipset ondie. That may be it though, no AVX3 or anything similar. Still think it's not without question that Skymont ends up being delayed or canceled, since I'm still skeptical about 10 nm without EUV.

It's still very possible that Skylake ends up being the last mainstream LGA processor. It would make sense to start the transition of what's left of the high end desktop to the extreme line then, especially if it looks like the push to lower the power draw ends up killing the ability to hit 4 Ghz.... if the heat density doesn't do it first.

 

[blackened23]

As the majority of PCs get more and more mobile, the benefits of BGA overshadow the drawbacks. OEMs will just have to deal.

I think, several years from now, that most socketed processors will be primarily for the E/X line of 6/8 core processors, while the mainstream processors may be phased out. I don't think desktop users will particularly look forward to that if it happens, but efficiency is the new metric for development as opposed to IPC in the past.