LGA vs PGA! Which is better?

The Master Keys series of mechanical keyboards from Cooler Master features genuine Cherry MX switches and the flexibility of choice. Whether you want small, medium, or large, you can pick your size and pick your color with RGB and clear white LED backlighting options. Click the sponsor link in the description for more information. Excellent! The thought occurred to me the other day that if you have just gotten into PC building within the past five years or so, and if you've gone with the prevailing recommendations based on performance and market share, that is to buy an Intel-based system, then you just might be a bit confused if you decide to put together a Ryzen-based computer now that AMD is back in the game. That's because Intel has used LGA or Land Grid Array CPU sockets since about 2004 with the introduction of the Pentium 4, whereas AMD continues to use PGA or Pin Grid Array. Today we'll be exploring the pros and cons of both designs. The simplest way to describe both socket types is by indicating where the pins are. For LGA, the pins are on the motherboard, and the CPU itself has pads, gold-plated contact points that line up with the pins in the socket. Each pad makes contact with one pin so data or power can be transferred. For PGA, the pins are on the CPU, and rather than pads on the motherboard, there's a socket with holes that line up with the CPU pins. This is known as a zero insertion force socket, meaning that with the installation lever raised, the CPU should drop in easily without any pressure applied. The lever can then be dropped back into place to secure the CPU. Of course, there are other ways to surface mount a component onto a motherboard or PCB, and while I won't delve into older configurations like dual inline package, chip carrier, or the slot mounts that Pentium 2s and 3s used, I did want to quickly mention BGA or Ball Grid Array. This is how CPUs and GPUs are usually installed in laptops and consoles, which aren't meant to be end-user serviceable. There's a similarity to PGA and LGA with BGA, though, in that you have a specific number of contact points that need to hook up between the chip and the board, but Ball Grid Array uses tiny balls of solder to preempt pronunciation police in the comments instead of pins or pads that need to be aligned on the chip and then reflowed or heated up to the point where they melt and secure the chip to the board. This is usually done with specialized equipment, but I'll post a couple links in the description to videos of people who are crazy enough to do it at home. Needless to say, this is not recommended for most home builders, but now if you hear BGA, you'll know what that means too. So let's take a closer look at LGA, Land Grid Array, Intel's preferred socket. Intel's naming scheme is pretty straightforward. It's just LGA followed by the number of the pins in the motherboard sockets or the number of pads on the CPU, which should be the same. So LGA 1151 has 1,151 contacts on the bottom. LGA 2011 has 2,011 contacts and LGA 2011-3 also has 2,011 contacts, but they changed the socket so it's not backwards compatible. We'll delve into backwards compatibility in a different video. Installing an LGA processor involves lifting a lever arm or two lever arms in the case of Intel's Enthusiast platform. With the arm raised, the lid can lift up. The CPU can be aligned by referencing the tiny little gold triangle that's on the corner of the CPU, as well as on the corner of the socket, and the processor can be gently dropped in. The lid then goes back down, slips under a catch, and then the lever arm or arms can be pushed back down with a little bit of pressure to secure the CPU in the socket. It's not the simplest method, but it does get the job done. One of the big benefits of LGA, and I think this is actually why Intel changed over to it in the first place, is that it's much harder to damage the CPU itself. There are no pins to bend or break, and since the CPU is usually going to be the more expensive part, it does make some sense to transfer the more delicate parts of the interface to the motherboard, although motherboard manufacturers have probably been dealing with more RMAs since then. LGA motherboards, on the other hand, are incredibly delicate when it comes to the socket, and basically if you damage those pins, your motherboard is pretty much toast. I've managed to repair LGA pins on a motherboard only once, and it was an X58LGA1366 board, and I had three identical boards with damaged sockets to work with. I managed to get only one working. The difficulty is mainly due to the socket pins themselves being smaller, flatter, and sort of angled as they come up out of the socket, so they have a little bit of give under pressure when the CPU is installed. I will say that I like LGA sockets for the ease of disassembly, though, as the CPU is held very securely in the socket, which helps if you're working with an aftermarket cooler. Now AMD, for their part, has produced LGA CPUs in the past. Their optor online in 2006, for example, was LGA1207, but by and large they've stuck with PGA for their consumer parts. AMD actually brands their PGA sockets with names, such as AM3, FM2, and for Ryzen now, AM4, but they can still be identified by their pin counts. AM4, for example, could also be referred to as PGA1331, but we'll stick with AM4 since it rolls off the tongue a little bit more easily. Installing a PGA CPU is quite simple, just to make sure to pins on the CPU itself. You don't want to bend them or even touch them if you can possibly avoid it. The AM4 socket has a lever on one side that you just simply lift up, and then again you align the gold triangle that's on the corner of the CPU with the triangle that should be on the socket itself, and it should just drop right in. Again, this is a zero insertion force socket. Shirts, by the way, are available at my store via the link in the description, and that means that it should drop in with zero pressure. Drop the lever arm back down, and you're done. One of the great things about PGA is that the motherboard socket is much more durable. With no delicate pins on there, you don't even really need a cover for the socket like you do with LGA, which is pretty nice. The pins are on the CPU side though, and while they're not as delicate as LGA pins on a motherboard, they are exposed, and they can be bent or even broken if handled improperly. My advice is to keep the CPU in its protective clamshell until you're ready to install it, and again, never try to force the CPU into a socket. Fortunately with PGA, a bent CPU pin or even a few of them is not the end of the world. I personally repaired probably at least 100 PGA CPUs with bent pins. This is back in my time when working in the Newegg RMA department, and some of them that were really, really bad. I basically just had to use a razor blade, steady hands, and lots of patience. Do this at your own risk, of course, and remember that if a pin breaks off, your CPU is toast. But it is certainly a lot more feasible than repairing a damaged LGA socket on a motherboard. Finally, when removing a PGA CPU, there's kind of a pain in the butt thing that can happen where the thermal paste sticks the CPU to the CPU cooler, and when you're pulling the CPU cooler off, you end up pulling the CPU out of the socket along with it without the lever arm raised. This happened to me, again, just recently as well as Kyle when we were doing our Ryzen reviews, and while it's mostly not a big deal, I have seen people lose pins when this happens. Just be careful when you're removing your cooler, and remember that it's easier to pull the cooler off while the thermal paste is still warm. So to sum up, I have four categories. Ease of installation, CPU durability, motherboard durability, and ease of de-installation. PGA takes the lead for installation and motherboard durability, and LGA gets the win when it comes to CPU durability and de-installation. So both sockets have their pros and cons, and while other factors such as performance and features will probably weigh more heavily for you when deciding on what platform to build your next system on, hopefully this video has helped you learn a little bit more about the nuances between the two. That's all for this video, though, so hit that like button if you enjoyed it, share with your friends who are maybe just learning about PCs, subscribe to my channel for more videos coming soon, including that one on Ryzen 5 overclocking that's still in the works, check out the description for all the links to all the stuff I talked about today, and as always, thank you very much for watching.