Want to upgrade my CPU

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kinda a stupid question, especially for a computer engineering senior :rolleyes: , but just want to be prepared

I am planning to upgrade from a P4 1.5 to a P4 2.6. My current mobo is an Asus P4P800-Deluxe and running SP2. What sort of compatibility issues should I look out for? I think my mobo supports an 800 mhz FSB, but is there anything else I need to know before deciding on the processor?

Also, I'm guessing SP2 will need to be reinstalled? Can I just boot from the cd and let it repair the installation or will a clean installation be absolutely necessary? I remember adding a new hdd 2 months back and SP1 wouldn't start and bitched about an LBA or something else missing...had to format and do a clean install, although I later came to know that I needed to just reset the sequence of hard drives that was there before the add-in

Help will be appreciated :bounce:
 
Arsenal said:
Kinda a stupid question, especially for a computer engineering senior :rolleyes: , but just want to be prepared

I am planning to upgrade from a P4 1.5 to a P4 2.6. My current mobo is an Asus P4P800-Deluxe and running SP2. What sort of compatibility issues should I look out for? I think my mobo supports an 800 mhz FSB, but is there anything else I need to know before deciding on the processor?

Also, I'm guessing SP2 will need to be reinstalled? Can I just boot from the cd and let it repair the installation or will a clean installation be absolutely necessary? I remember adding a new hdd 2 months back and SP1 wouldn't start and bitched about an LBA or something else missing...had to format and do a clean install, although I later came to know that I needed to just reset the sequence of hard drives that was there before the add-in

Help will be appreciated :bounce:

You won't have to reinstall anything! You can keep that motherboard. The P4P800 is a fantastic board that supports P4s up to 3Ghz+. It's based on the 865 chipset, so all socket 478 Prescott P4s (I believe they top out at either 3.2 or 3.4 GHz for Socket 478) should work. A processor is much simpler (at least from the operating systems point of view) to change than a hard drive or a chipset.

Just make sure you select a Socket 478 Pentium 4. Prescott or Northwood, using 533 or 800Mhz FSB. Don't accidentally buy a LGA775 CPU. I've seen people do that many times, or vice versa.

I would strongly advise you to update your BIOS first. Visit ASUS's website to get the update. Follow the instructions carefully. Once updated, it's just a matter of replacing the CPU. Install the cpu/cooler properly and it should boot up just fine.
 
Thanks for your help, mate. I keep my stuff regularly updated, so my soundcard, AGP card(Asus fx5600), mobo have the latest drivers and bios. Asus has a beta bios for my mobo, but I would rather wait for them release a stable version. I currently have bios version 1019 and the beta is 1022 i think. Think I should upgrade?(I would rather wait).

That SP2 will start up automatically with a new processor is news to me! Looks like ol' Billy's been working well on his stuff :eek:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back