Upgrade compatibility problems

[zero10iz]

Hello all,

I have an HP 760n from about 5 years ago. Over the years I've upgraded the system (RAM from 512 to 768, and just recently to 1 GB) and video card from a 32MB TNT2 N64 to a 9600 XT.

Recently I decided it was time to try and upgrade the CPU, popped it in, turned it on, and nothing happened. The system powered on, but not even the BIOS showed up.

I popped my old CPU back in, and the system works fine.

I'm wondering whether it is because the board is incompatible with the CPU, or if its because the CPU was defective.

Original CPU - Willamette P4 1.8/256/400
New CPU - Northwood Celeron 2.5/128/400

Mobo - Asus P4B266-LA - It states explicitly that it supports Northwood cores.

I'm also wondering if it's possible to use a 533 FSB CPU with it, since the latest news I found about the mobo stats that it supports up to 100 MHz quadpumped = 400MHz.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Guest]

Hello all,

I have an HP 760n from about 5 years ago. Over the years I've upgraded the system (RAM from 512 to 768, and just recently to 1 GB) and video card from a 32MB TNT2 N64 to a 9600 XT.

Recently I decided it was time to try and upgrade the CPU, popped it in, turned it on, and nothing happened. The system powered on, but not even the BIOS showed up.

I popped my old CPU back in, and the system works fine.

I'm wondering whether it is because the board is incompatible with the CPU, or if its because the CPU was defective.

Original CPU - Willamette P4 1.8/256/400
New CPU - Northwood Celeron 2.5/128/400

Mobo - Asus P4B266-LA - It states explicitly that it supports Northwood cores.

I'm also wondering if it's possible to use a 533 FSB CPU with it, since the latest news I found about the mobo stats that it supports up to 100 MHz quadpumped = 400MHz.

Thanks for any help.

It's hard to say 100% but -- It seems the majority of boards based off the P4B266 (there are several different models) don't support anything higher than a Celeron 2.2GHz CPU.. Why on earth would you want to replace a Pentium 4 with a Celeron? That's more of a Downgrade than an Upgrade. The only two ASUS MoBo's that will take higher than a Celeron 2.2GHz CPU based on the P4B266 are the P4B266-E and P4B266-M. Not sure which your MoBo is based off as that would take some visual comparison. HP buys third party vendor MoBo's and tailors them to meet their needs.

So chances are if you drop in the Celery 2.5 and it's a no-go, there is pretty much your answer. You could also try new firmware by flashing your MoBo's BIOS. Put the original CPU back in, boot up, go to HP's web site and see if there is a BIOS update.. If there is, download it, flash the MoBo and try the new CPU again. If that doesn't work then your probably just S.O.L. Something else you can try - If your board is based off of one of the two that I mentioned, you can try (at your own risk) to flash the board with ASUS's BIOS instead of HP's.

 

[zero10iz]

^^ Thanks for the bit about the 2.2 GHz, I've looked everywhere I know and couldn't find an answer to how high the mobo goes.

Would you be able to give me a definite answer if I gave you a visual of the mobo? If you can, I would appreciate it a lot.

The reason for the "upgrade" was mostly from benchmarks I saw where the Celeron outperformed the P4, and that I couldn't find anything with a 400 MHz bus and a Northwood core other than the Celeron. The lower L2 Cache does seem to hurt it a bit.

I already updated the BIOS from HP's website last night, it was still a no go.

If not, I guess I'll RMA the CPU and keep the 1.8 til the thing dies. I'm transferring this computer into a home media center (of sorts) for my dad when he gets his big LCD.

 

[ColinTaylor]

If you're looking for more horsepower, I'm running the same motherboard (P4B266-LA) with a 2.4ghz P4, you might try that.

I'm having problems upgrading the memory, can't get it to recognize my PC3200 Samsung 512mb DIMMs, (M368L6423FTN-CCC)

What kind and size of memory did you use?

Thanks.
Colin