Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Don't even worry about the sockets. By the time you need a new CPU, the socket will have changed to a different shape or need a different chipset. That's true for all processors.
Let me give an example. I bought a top notch E6600 about 2.5 years ago. We still have the same socket, but I can't get a quad core because my P5LD2 motherboard does not support it. I once had a Socket A Athlon 1700. Do you think I could upgrade to a Socket A Athlon 3200? Of course not. The 1700 was 133mhz bus and the 3200 was 200mhz bus.
If you are changing CPU so often that you can re-use the same motherboard, you're doing it wrong.
I had a S939 w/Athlon 64 3200+, and eventually swapped in an Opteron 165. How is that "doing it wrong"?
I also had a Socket A XP 1700+, and swapped in a Barton 2500+. Cranked up the FSB, no problem.
Many of the old AM2 mobos are able accept Phenoms (not PhII).
I agree with part of what you're saying: if you purchase a LGA 1366 mobo now, there's a good chance that in 3 years you won't be able to replace the CPU with the most recent LGA 1366 CPU. But, you never know, and there may be a future incremental CPU upgrade you would like to have.