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Is it possible to do a straight swap of a 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 with a 3.4 Ghz Pentium 4 on an Intel motherboard? Do each of these chips have the same socket, or are they different?
How do I find out what specific processor (besides the speed, of course) that I have in my computer? How do I find out what socket it uses? If I have to look up the motherboard model information, where do I get the motherboard model from?
mike
Posted 2012-06-02T14:10:46.030
Reputation: 59
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Generally speaking: yes, it is possible.
But:
Hennes
Posted 2012-06-02T14:10:46.030
Reputation: 60 739
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@RobertNiestroj While I agree that these 4 steps are not in the best order, what you suggest is covered under step 3. Any particular reason why you choose to be redundant? Or is it just that you don't understand that checking/updating a BIOS covers CPU compatibility... assuming the processors use the same socket of course. – Bon Gart – 2012-06-02T15:04:08.377
@Bon Gart which BIOS guarantees you compatibility with all processors made for a specific socket? Especially on P4 class boards i found a few times that BIOS update is not enough. Sometimes if you got a Rev. 1.0 board i just does not support some newer processors, no matter what BIOS you have. Then processor support is added in following revisions of the motherboard. Last time i had this issue 3 months ago with a ECS P4S5A Rev 1.0 or sth like that. – Robert Niestroj – 2012-06-02T15:19:29.397
@RobertNiestroj That's kind of silly. No BIOS guarantees you compatibility. But when you go to update the BIOS, and the update lists no additional CPU support added, and your CPU was the fastest one supported as per the description of what was included in your current BIOS revision... then you know whether or not your current BIOS or an update will add support for a faster processor. Don't you read the details on BIOS revisions? Who just blindly updates a BIOS without reading what the update does? – Bon Gart – 2012-06-02T15:28:22.367
@BonGart i always read BIOS descriptions before even downloading. The question was if he can uprgrade his CPU straight. If the upgrade CPU is not supported by any BIOS you can put in your Mobo then upgrading the BIOS is pointless. – Robert Niestroj – 2012-06-02T15:53:43.987
@RobertNiestroj and I have seen far too many motherboard product pages with outdated "supported CPU" lists, where the linked BIOS revisions from those same product pages detail processors that ARE supported. In other words, some motherboard manufacturers will add processor support without updating a Supported CPU page. Where do they add that processor support? Through a BIOS revision. – Bon Gart – 2012-06-02T15:57:02.193
@RobertNiestroj In fact, to put an EXACT point on this, examine the supported CPU list for this motherboard http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=310 and find where it says that you can use an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ and now explain to me how the computer sitting next to me has that motherboard and is using the processor I just named? What program would you like me to use and get a screen shot from to prove it?
– Bon Gart – 2012-06-02T16:04:40.140
2If you're more specific in your questions, it will be easier to to answer it. Which P4 2.8 GHz? Which P4 3.4 GHz? Which motherboard? – Dennis – 2012-06-02T14:36:36.843
1Understood. Next time, I'll do a little more research. However, I did run CPU-Z on the computer, and it determined the sockets are different. I highly recommend running CPU-Z to find info on your processor. It can also find out a bunch of info on other things, like RAM and your video card. – mike – 2012-06-04T15:01:25.863