Intel Pentium M 755 socket: Socket 479

What the Pentium M 755 is

The Intel Pentium M 755 is a 2 GHz single-core mobile processor from May 2004. It runs one P6 variant Dothan core at 2 GHz with no turbo, so 1 core gives 1 thread. Cache is 2 MB of L2 on a 90 nm process. Power is rated at 21 W in a Socket 479 package with a 400 MT/s front side bus and a 20x multiplier at 0.988 V to 1.34 V.

The 755 tops the early Dothan 400 MT/s stack at 637 dollars in May 2004, above the 423 dollars 745 and the 294 dollars 735 with the same cache and power. Intel held power flat by binning voltage across the range, so frequency alone separates the ratings. The chip supports MMX, SSE and SSE2 with Enhanced SpeedStep. No higher Dothan 400 MT/s clock followed at 21 W, since 533 MT/s Dothan parts moved to 27 W with new chipsets.

Top clocks at low power made the 755 the flagship thin notebook chip of mid 2004. The 2 GHz core with 2 MB of cache gave desktop-like responsiveness with hours of battery life, which is why the 755 cost more than desktop Pentium 4 parts at higher megahertz.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The Pentium M 755 fits Socket 479 thin notebooks with a 400 MT/s bus and Dothan support. It needs a mobile 479-pin board with 400 MT/s paths. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Flagship thin Centrino notebooks are the natural match. Boards listing Dothan 400 MT/s parts accept the 755 with a 21 W heat pipe. Socket 478 mobiles need larger chassis instead.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is DDR through the board chipset with notebook slots. The CPU has no controller.

A 400 MT/s bus ties the CPU to the chipset, while graphics hangs off the chipset. No PCIe lanes originate on the die. Cooling is the 21 W notebook heat pipe with quiet operation. SpeedStep cuts draw on battery.

Upgrade paths

On Socket 479 the 755 tops the 400 MT/s Dothan line, so same bus upgrades stop here. Pentium M 760 parts at 2 GHz move to a 533 MT/s bus with 27 W power and new chipsets. The 745 and 735 offer slower clocks where listed. Beyond Socket 479 a move to Socket M needs a new notebook. The 755 removes with the socket mechanism, so swaps need no solder work.