Can A mobile processor be used on a desktop motherboard??

[Myth]

I just wanted to know if it was possible cuz I was thinking of getting a 3.06ghz p4 for my motherboard(3.06 is the highest it supports) and noticed that the mobile chip is alot cheaper than the desktop one so would it be possible to do this or not?? Im on an Intel D45PESVL motherboard.

[Albuquerque]

IF you're on an Intel board, the answer will be a "no" with some fine print...

The processor will actually function, but it will default to a 12x multiplier. All mobile P4's do this because of the "Speedstep" technology that requires a few extra pins of data that a normal desktop board will not provide. So, what will happen is the Intel motherboard will decide what FSB is appropriate (it should select a 133 bus) and then you'll get 12x that.

So if it works like it should, you'll get a 1.6ghz processor for the price of a 3.06ghz part! Isn't that exciting? IF you were on any motherboard that allowed overclocking, you could ramp up the front side bus speed to compensate for such a low multiplier. An FSB of 255 would get your processor working at it's normal speed with the 12x multiplier.

There is no way to alter the multiplier either, so don't go there.

So you see, technically it would work on your motherboard, but in reality it would be running about 40% less speed than it should. Welcome to mobile processors ;)

[Myth]

Wow thanks alot for the detailed response Albuquerque. I fully understand now :) . Thanks man you just saved me from making a very bad decision hehe. Also,I CAN overclock my intel board through cpufsb,took me a while to figure it out but I found my motherboards PLL. It wouldnt make a difference though if I overclocked it because my motherboard will only go so high b4 my sound acts up considering i have no pci/agp lock :eh?: . BUt thanks for the explanation man,i really appreciate it.