motherboard question

[Jetset]

My dad has a dell p3 500 computer and the motherboard has Intel 440BX AGPset in it. I dont know the brand of the board since I don't think Dell puts the name of the manufacturer on the board. Anyone happen to know how high this board will support. thanks

[WillysNut]

Jetset...chances are you will not have any options to overclock the processor in an OEM box. Dell/Gateway/Compaq..all of em' put standard, non-overclockable motherboards in their machines to cut on cost and probably the greater chance of user error and in turn support of users.

Your best bet would be to use the peripherals (CPU, nic, modem, video, cd, hdd, etc) on a overclockable motherboard. To see what options you might possibly have, try hitting the "del" key when the system is booting...or look for messages in relation to the BIOS. You should also read some of the guides on the front page and at other sites...these will point you in the right direction...good luck!

[Jetset]

Sorry, I didn't make my post too clear. He wants to upgrade his processor and I want to know how high the mobo will support. I will not be overclocking this. Thanks

[It_The_Cow]

Infinite really. As long as your motherboard supports the specified FSB, it shouldn't be a problem

[Jetset]

well his current processor runs at 100mhz fsb so would that probably mean that it will only go that high?

[It_The_Cow]

It'll go as high as anything as long as it uses a 100mhz FSB

[Slake]

If you do decide to overclock, SoftFSB from http://www.tweakfiles.com may come in handy. With OEM boards it will be hit and miss on finding the right settings. I used it to OC my old HP 350 P2 to 398. Wasn't worth the trouble though. If you read the newsgroups and forums at the Manufacturers page you may stumble onto the true identity of the board. Asus supplies a lot of OEM's with custom boards. The BIOS chip on the board is probably a custom chip that won't accept a bios flash from the board maker. That's what ended any prospects for using my HP?Asus p2b. If you can find the jumpers for FSB on the board, you may be able to OC it to a hifgher FSB . All in all you probably have the right idea of not trying to OC. Even replacing the CPU though will probably require locating and changing the VCore jumpers .
OH yeah, DL SiSoftSandra from tweakfiles. It may tell you a lot of good stuff about the board.
Good luck, and be CAREFUL!

[fordracr]

DELL uses INTEL boards