[Solved] Can I replace a p4 ht socket 478 with any p4 ht socket 478?

I would like to replace a p4 ht 800mhz fsb socket 478 2.4ghz cpu with
one that's the same except for 3 to 3.2 ghz.
Can I just do a drop-in replacement?
Is there some other info that I need in order to get the exact right cpu that will work?

Hello uriahk;

You can probably do that.
Double check the CPU compatibility chart for your motherboard.
Also, don't expect to see a large improvement in performance. In spite of the 600~800Mhz jump in speed it won't seem much faster to you.

Should be ok, just watch cpu temp.

Thanks very much everyone. I'll look into getting something.
Just looking to outdo my laptop for now.

Just reread OP.
Careful the chipset on a 2.4 might not support HT.
You would need to know your chipset and research (google,wikipedia) whether it would work.
Try this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_4

it does.

If that's true then I'm stuck with the 2.4, because my board is an i875p

^I have a Asus P4P800 Deluxe in my old system. Its a 845PE chipset. It is running a Pentium 4 3.4Ghz EE. I am pretty sure that the 875P chipset supported a EE chip. It has 2 SATA 1.5s in a RAID 0 and a X850XT PE. But there are some HD3800s for AGP with drivers from the makers.

For the OP, what is your mobo model? That can make all the difference in the world.

Just as an example:

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport [...] uage=en-us

Thats a P4C800 which is a 875P chipset mobo and a step above the one that I had in my old system (that is now my fiances main machine and still serves her well). It supported every S478 Pentium 4 and HT.

Thats why the mobo model will help to determine what CPU you can put in it.

As for the chipsets, the 8XX series was mainly made for S478 but the 865 also supported DDR2 and LGA775. The 875P and the i915/925 were transition sockets. They had 915/925 with LGA775 and AGP or LGA775 and DDR and a whole slew of combinations, same with the 865PE/875P.

Thats a Dell mobo. In fact it should be a Dell precision 360.

Its hard to say since Dell doesn't like to tell you which CPU can be put in it.

But since it is a 875P that was designed when prescott was released it should work.

After digging on google for a half hour looking up Precision 360 ( i had that model btw)
and 875p ( canterwood) i can only find support up to a P4 Northwood which the fastest looks to be the P4 3.4C though i see alot more of the Canterwood running the P4 3.2C.
I looked up the Precision 360 on Ebay and the fastest sold were P4 3.2C which looks to be the fastest that Dell threw in the that box.
A P4 3.2 or 3.4 C would be a nice cheap reliable upgrade combined with a decent AGP lowpower agp card like a Nvidia 7000 series (7900gt or 7600gt). I got a 7600GS 256mb for 30 bucks shipped. It is DirectX 9.0c and I run Crysis Warhead (low settings) and Far Cry 2 (medium settings) on it.
For 50 bucks or so you could get the P4 3.2C CPU and a video card.
It would be a good office/home machine and a light low setting gamer.
Of course for about 400 or so you could build a much more powerful machine.
It depends on finances and what you actually need the computer to do.

This is the best Northwood based CPU that you can get:

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27490

I have it in my old system and its quite a nice CPU.

The honest truth though, a Prescott based Pentium 4 is not much better than a Northwood based Pentium 4.

Depending on what video card you have this could be a nice cheap upgrade
and it is DX10.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
Just check power supply rating on ATI's site.
The Dell Precision 360 should be able to handle about a 350watt to 400 watt card if you are not running double cd and hardrives.
This card is fanless and would be great for multimedia since it is quiet.
Any way that is another thread.
Good luck

Download and install Everest Home Edition from Lavalys
it is free and wiil tell you almost everything about your computer.
Just google it. I think i got it from the lavalys site or freewarefiles.com.
Pay attention to what chipset you have.
If you look in the thread above you will see a link to intel chipsets.
The chipset will let you know what you can support.
Also knowing Front Side Bus and core voltage helps.
What i did to upgrade my Dell Precision 450 was to ebay and google that model and see what other processors were in used in that series.
I looked for the highest speed that I found and used that as a guideline.
Wikipedia and Google are my best friends LOL.
Really read and check out the links posted in this thread.
It will really help.

I don't really know what front side bus it has since when I look up the specs for the 170L it says 800mhz or 533mhz. But I think mine is 533mhz since it has DDR PC2700 for ram but I don't know.

I'd toss that unit out and get something else.
Dell SFF's had issues and some were recalled for overheating and blown capacitors.
not worth upgrading at all because you will also need to upgrade cooling and ventilation for the case and cpu..
FYI.

I am a big fan of using older hardware if it does what you need it do.
I have had some heated discussions on these forums regarding this point.
If upgrading your CPU for 15 bucks and maybe putting in some cheap RAM will do everything you need your computer to do then more power to you.
BUT there is a technology usefullness curve to be aware of.
A strong P4 HT chip or early dual core with a 800mhz fsb,agp or preferably PCIx16 and a Sata hd will for most average to medium users do the job.
The problem with your 170l would primarily be your limitation of graphics cards since you only have PCI available.
If you only use your PC for office work and internet browsing/cd/dvd ripping and really light gaming (older games b4 2002) then you would be fine doing the CPU upgrade.
But if you need in the future for your pc to do more then you got to be aware of your upgrade path.
Right now in US the used OEM systems are getting cheaper and cheaper even on Ebay so if you make a small investment now into a LGA775 socket,Sata and PCI express system it could carry you for awhile depending on your needs.
Sorry for the books I just wrote.
I hope I didnt bore you and it helped.

No you would need a 533 mhz chip.
Check out this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_4
There was a P4 3.06 HT on a 533 bus.
I would feel better if I saw your tower configured from dell with it.
these are intel model numbers for 3.06
SL6K7
SL6JJ
SL6PG
SL6QC
SL6S5
SL6SM
check out this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] 8130_nm.29
I will do some further research on dell 170l and get back to you.

it's all outdated.... toss it aside and go newer.
I wouldn't upgrade anything about this unit.
today you at least need a dual-core.
and actually you should have started you own thread instead of piggy-backing this one..

Best answer selected by uriahk.

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey