socket A socket 462 - one and the same?

[yellowjohn]

are socket a and 462 the same ie does a socket a cpu fit in both and vice versa

[kempie]

Yes.

The two names derive because Socket A was designed by AMD to accept a "462 pin microPGA" CPU and so is sometimes incorrectly called Socket 462.

[yellowjohn]

thanks once again kempie