Putting a 800mhz fsb in a 533mhz fsb max motherboard?

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pigsinspace72

pigsinspace72

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I have an old dell poweredge 600sc workstation with a 2.6ghz single core pentium 4 with a 533mhz front size bus. It is a socket 478 and there are more powerful(dual core i think) cpu's with the same socket but have a larger front size bus. Would putting a 800mhz fsb cpu into a 533mhz fsb motherboard work? what would happen if I did?

I know that its generally not worth putting money into an old system but you can get some of these cpu for next to nothing.
 
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Obnoxious
No problem, I understand. I still stand that a 800MHz may not boot in a 478 motherboard; I'd stick to 533MHz CPU's only.

I can't guarantee compatibility, although there are no dual-core processors for socket 478, you can however purchase Pentium 4's with Hyper Threading (1 core / 2 threads) whilst also 533MHz. You may look at the Pentium 4 3.06 GHz (Northwood) which is the only Hyper Threaded CPU @ 533MHz. Certain users with the same machine as yours are successfully able to boot with the 3.06GHz CPU, whereas others are not; I'd try you luck. If you are not able to accept that CPU, the best alternative you have is a single core Prescott 2.8GHz Pentium 4.

Firstly update your BIOS to the latest version, which can be attained here...
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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There are no dual-core processors for the socket 478. The first dual-core was introduced with socket 775.

You're free to try installing a 800MHz into the 478 socket, but to be honest, it most likely will not work. The motherboard's microcode may not support any other processor other than the ones on it's "whitelist." I'd search for your motherboard's CPU support list and adhere to that.

To be honest however, you should upgrade from the socket 478 or scrap it all together, no offence intended of course. You can even upgrade the motherboard to a cheap 1150 and slot in a Celeron, and it'll perform at least 10x better than the P4 system.

All the best. :)
 
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pigsinspace72

pigsinspace72

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Well, I use it to host mysql databases and teamspeak servers and I just wanted a little extra umph to my system. I was only planning on spending like 20$ on a new cpu for this.

Sadly, there is little online documentation on this computer nevertheless on the motherboard itself. There is no list that I have found on the motherboard only that it has a 533mhz front size bus. I personally think that a 3.4ghz single core would be pretty good for this system.
 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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No problem, I understand. I still stand that a 800MHz may not boot in a 478 motherboard; I'd stick to 533MHz CPU's only.

I can't guarantee compatibility, although there are no dual-core processors for socket 478, you can however purchase Pentium 4's with Hyper Threading (1 core / 2 threads) whilst also 533MHz. You may look at the Pentium 4 3.06 GHz (Northwood) which is the only Hyper Threaded CPU @ 533MHz. Certain users with the same machine as yours are successfully able to boot with the 3.06GHz CPU, whereas others are not; I'd try you luck. If you are not able to accept that CPU, the best alternative you have is a single core Prescott 2.8GHz Pentium 4.

Firstly update your BIOS to the latest version, which can be attained here from Dell. That fixes issues with the D1 stepping on certain processors. Select the method you'd like to install the BIOS update, and install the update (you can even download the .exe file to run within Windows to update BIOS; if you select this method ensure all other programs are closed).

Once updated, go ahead and try the P4 3.06GHz with HT. I have a feeling it may work for you, especially after the BIOS update. If not, as mentioned the best alternative you have is the P4 2.8GHz (Prescott). Off-topic, but funnily enough I have both these processors. Just had to get it out, LOL. :D

Anyhow, all the best. :)
 
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pigsinspace72

pigsinspace72

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Thanks, I run Arch Linux on this computer so no .exe files for me. I really appreciate your help and will have to update the BIOS for sure. Those 3.06Ghz cpu are like 4 dollars on ebay and has a 30 day return on it so its worth a shot. This computer is old, but since it is a workstation motherboard, it supported up to 4GB of RAM :D
 
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