newbie-do i need a SLOWER celeron?

Hi, first post and first computer build!

Present computer awful (cyrix 233 on equally awful mobo) and was planning to do a big/expensive self build in a few months (athlonxp1800 etc) BUT AM TOTALLY FED UP WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH DIVX FASTER THAN 1 FRAME PER SEC!!!-so interim 'practice' build with v.v. cheap mobo (jetway 920BF). It has max multiplier of 8x, so i figure good stating cpu would be celeron 533mhz (8x66mhz) i could then ramp up the fsb....
BUT.... i am unable to source locally such a slow chip, the slowest celeron i could find was 633mhz (?9.5x66mhz).

So... will this celeron 633 boot up with this mobo as the processor is multiplier locked (will i get 8x66mhz=533 and sucessfully UNDERCLOCK the cpu?)

if it will boot up what chance have i got in getting 'normal' 633mhz or a genuine overclock?

if unlikely to work i will have to wait for a 2nd user slow celeron to appear - maybe a long wait (no more divx for foreseeable future!!)

hope this isn't too stupid a question, thanks

try finding a bios upgrade (flash) for your mobo and plug the faster cely in .. probably it will boot up normal and use the full speed of the processor... but it all depends on manufactor of your mobo and if there is a flash upgrade...

/Rulle

Thanks for the help, of course i will need to get the computer working with the faster chip first before i can flash the bios (if they have updated it that is) as i only have a mobo and no cpu a present in it!!! remember i am trying to be as cheap as possible, thats why i got this cheapo mobo. But if it all works will make my present cyrix 233 look like an abacus (hold on, maybe an abacus is better!)

First off, I have no idea if that motherboard is a slot 1 or a socket 370, but that don't matter. If it's a slot 1 all you need to do is get a slotket adapter for socket 370 CPUs. If the BIOS truly will not support any multiplier above 8X, but has 100 MHz FSB support, then I'd go with a Celeron 800. These C-800 CPUs also overclock very well and should easily go over 1 gig. Also, they are bargain priced right now.

batboy

wow, thanks, how obvious a solution (except for me doh!)
celeron 800 is only about £10 more (?$14) and with this cpu i know that i definately can use it as it is a 100mhz fsb default!!

thanks again, and goodbye to my cyrix 233 hell and hello to divx watching heaven!!

Celerons provide the motherboard with the correct multiplier, regardless of how high a mult the mobo has on it. Don't worry about it- if the board itself supports Coppermine-style chips, any Celeron will work just fine.

It will probably detect it weird- I've seen Celeron 600s be detected in BIOS as "C3 800" before, but it worked just fine. Windows knows what kind of chip it was really.

Hey droolian,
Welcome to the forums.
I've messed with some of their older TX(pentium) boards, they aren't too bad for cheap boards. Here is a link to your board; it looks like you might be able to upgrade to a decent speed proc. Hope this helps you out.

EDIT: This board looks like it supports Pentium3/Celeron2 100 fsb procs, go for a Celeron 800. Also, that board uses an integrated vid chip with no AGP slot, you might still have slow frame rates with the integrated video. Again, good luck.

Hey thanks guys for all the advice, nice to know that the low mobo multiplier is no real cause for concern and the link was especially useful.

Shame about no agp slot (use my PCI nvidia tnt instead) but for £80 (c.$110us) i've gone from a cyrix 233 to a cel 800+ system, very pleasing. Shame i will be spending more cash on trying to cool/o'clock it to the max!! But i think i'm starting to understand that's where all the fun is!

I'm sure i'll be back here after i've fryed this new cpu!!! see ya