Can you help me?

I'm planning to replace my P4 2.4b with a 2.4c but my budget will only allow me to replace just the processor not the motherboard which is an Asus P4B533 with hyperthreading. My question is... is it possible to still get the full benefit of the 2.4c processor given the fact that I've got a 133board? I'm thinking that since 2.4c has on fsb of 200 and my board is only 133, I can just bump the fsb to 200 and since the 2.4c has a multiplier of 12 I still get 2.4gig, right? and perhaps maybe overclock it to the max since my board can go as high as 400fsb. Memory is not a problem either I can still run a pc400 memory, I'll just adjust the cpu memory ratio to 4:3, @ 285fsb my 2.4c is @ 3.42 and memory@ 427 which any crappy ram could handle. What do you think, is my analogy correct?

good thinking but it won't quite work like that i'm afraid.

your board may have adjustments up to 400fsb but i doubt it will even make it to 200mhz without a fuss. the board is built to run at 133. 200mhz would be unusual. anything higher than that and its straight rare.

my advice to you rather than changing the chip would be to change your motherboard.

i'm running on a 2.4b with a IS7 (springdale, 800fsb) motherboard with dual channel ram. its very fast and the added memory bandwidth really helps with loading times.

i also noticed you are located in the philippines. there is another member here who lives there and all he could find of the new 800fsb 2.4c's were philippine chips which are pretty much the worst 2.4c's available as far as overclocking. chances are you would be stuck with a 2.4c that, even with a new board, wouldn't be any faster than your 2.4b might be on your asus board.

a new board would give you new memory options, more goodies onboard like firewire, sata, raid... your overclock on your 2.4b would be rock solid since these new boards are meant to be starting out at 200fsb which your 2.4b probably is not capable of. in short the chip would run out before the board would get anywhere near unstable.

good luck with your rig.

Maxvla said:

your board may have adjustments up to 400fsb but i doubt it will even make it to 200mhz without a fuss.

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if the board can lock the PCI/AGP at default speeds (and most P4 boards do), it *should* be able to run a P4C.
it may incorrectly identify it, but it should still run it.

looktall said:

if the board can lock the PCI/AGP at default speeds (and most P4 boards do), it *should* be able to run a P4C.
it may incorrectly identify it, but it should still run it.

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just how confident are you in that *should*

i'd give it a 25% chance of success. no more.

people have been able to run P4C's in asus P4PE mobo's with an updated bios.
those mobo's don't officially support P4C's, and the fsb only goes up to 200 max.

but i'm never confident when it comes to someone else's money.
if it were my money, i'd give it a go.

absolutezero, does your budget take into account selling your old 2.4B and mobo and putting the money towards a new mobo?

Hey, I appreciate the input. I'll just wait for a while and maybe some new processor and chipset technology comes out, thats the time that I'll upgrade, 'will just save the money for now. I dont want to take a 25% chance. Hey, did you know that the cost of a P4 2.4c is like 2 months salary for an average Filipino, for me its like 2 weeks, thats why I dont rush into an upgrade before asking first.
My rig: P4 2.4b@ 3.240 stable @ 1.6vcore (but cant run prime though, I can loop sandra, stability test, memtest, 3Dmark 2k and 2001se with no problem, no bsod or freezing during gaming and day to day computer functions. Prime will run at 2.934 @ def. voltage forever.) I know this cpu will run even higher but I'm not comfortable with voltage over 1.6 volts and I think my thermaltake volcano 7+ cant take the heat, as it is, my temp. is like 50C according to asus probe and 60C according to the temp probe attached to my cpu's underside, a little hot, huh! but I think the cpu can handle the heat, according to intel, P4's can take a max of 71 deg. Did you know that there's no watercooling kit for sale in our place, fan grill ( I put 3 intake 80mm fan in my case without a fan grill), cold cathode and when I asked the sales person for an arcticsilver 3, he looked confused not even heard of the thing, almost all computer store i went to, same reaction. Thats how backward we are. Hey maybe you have some 80mm fan grill lying around that you dont use, hehehe.

I agree with Max about going with a new mobo first. I disagree with his 25% chance of a 800 bus CPU working with your current mobo. I give it a 50 to 60% chance of working. Even if you get it to run at default speed, you won't be able to overclock (at least not much).

Ok so let's say you got lucky and it's working, you now have a 2.4 gig proc running at default speed (or close to it) that runs HT. Big deal. You currently are running at 3.24 gig which will kick the 2.4C's butt if it's only running at default speed.

No, you need the proper mobo to run a "C" CPU. But, upgrading the mobo (to i865 or i875 chipset) will give you lots of benefits. You'll probably get a little more of an overclock out of your old 2.4B, you'll have dual channel memory, and lots of other cool features (8X AGP, 2.0 USB, S-ATA, etc.)... plus a direct upgrade path to the 800 bus CPUs and early Prescotts.

If you're going to upgrade one step at a time, upgrade the mobo first.

the 2.4c will definately work on the board. i'm talking about running it at full speed.

Hehehe.... I threw in that 50-60% to see what you'd say, Max. Actually I don't have a clue, except it's unlikely that mobo will run a 2.4C much above default... if it even makes it to default speed.

I could mail you a fan grill if you want. Can't use it. PM me if you want, I can mail it next week.

edit - sorry, I was careless... it is a 92mm grill I think. Do you have anything in your case of that diameter?

batboy said:

plus a direct upgrade path to the 800 bus CPUs and early Prescotts.

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Have you heard new info on the Prescott situation?

My understanding was that the ability of existing mobos to support Prescott's power needs is questionable.