Does "default" underclocking harm?

[ajaygargnsit]

I have a Intel Pentium 4 CPU, 3.0E Ghz, supporting HT technology, 800 FSB. Recently, I have run into a problem with the motherboard I was using, and I am in a position where I am able to get a motherboard that supports a maximum of 533 Mhz System bus speed.

I tried assembling the system, installed Windows Xp and when I viewed "My computer" properties, it shows that the CPU runs at 1.50 GHz. So my question is :

"Apart from speed consideration (i.e. its ok if my computer runs at half the speed), but can it lead to a possible hardware or software problem as such " ?

Thanks

Looking forward to a reply.

Ajay Garg

[batboy]

No, it won't hurt anything to underclock it. Your processor at default speed is supposed to be 15X200=3000, but is currently running 15X100=1500. If your motherboard supports 533 then you should be able to run 15X133=2000. Download a free program called CPU-Z to confirm what CPU clock speed you are running. What motherboard do you have and does it have any manual FSB (frequency) settings?

[ALiEN2953]

if your motherboard doesnt allow you to change the FSB there are some pin mods you can do if you really want to.

[ajaygargnsit]

Thanks for the replies.

I actually have a couple of options : Omaxe, and Foxconn : both with 865 chipsets, and the same "under-clocking" stuff.

Would be nice if someone could tell which one I should go for?

[xilix]

It won't harm it, but it's going to be horribly slow compared to what it should be running. Definitely download CPU-Z to confirm it's actually running at 1.5Ghz, seems weird to me that it's running at that speed. Do you want it to be underclocked?

I wish I could tell you which motherboard to go with, but I'm afraid I don't know much about socket 478's. Personally I try to stay with Asus or Gigabyte as they seem to offer nice clocking options, up or down.