Are P2s and P3s interchangable?

[The Best Alias]

They look like the same socket. Here's the situation: I was given a bone pile of old PC's today. I wanna build as many working PCs as possible that I can give to needy families this christmas. I wanna make the most of what I have. I have 1 system up with a P2 200 mhz, but I have a known good P3 433mhz chip. If the answer to my thread title is "in some cases", do I pose any threat of dammage to the mobo if I try the switch? Mobos and hard drives are what I am short on. I've got more PC100 memory than you could shake a stick at right now.

thanks!
-Richard

 

[RealBlackStuff]

No.
PII processors are Slot 1. PIII processors are Slot 1 or Socket 370. They are not electrically or pin compatible.

 

[LNCPapa]

Some Slot-1 motherboards do support both though. Actually, many of the 440BX boards do.

 

[Nodsu]

Any CPU support is up to the motherboard. If the socket/slot is the same then consult the mobo manual regarding supported CPU types and speeds. Sometimes a BIOS upgrade adds more supported CPUs.