Legit Reviews

If my motherboard has a LGA 775 socket/cpu, then may I use ANY 775 form factored CPU and it will work fine in that socket up to its normal/top speed?

Sadly no, this is not the case for every motherboard.

Only the newest LGA775 boards will support any LGA775 processor, but older boards will only support certain (read older) LGA775 processors.

The best way to find out what CPUs your motherboard supports is to visit the manufacturers website and see the CPU compatability list.

Dan

as DMB said, if you want to upgrade from something like a Pentium4 to a newly purchased Core2 it likely would not boot

the main thing to look at is Manufacturing Process which is either 65nm (older) or 45nm (newer) as well as the Front Side Bus, as most boards don't support high FSB's like 1333MHz or even 1066MHz, you may be limited to a chip that uses 800MHz like ~3GHz Pentium 4's had

but if you're still not sure what you can get, you can give us some more info about your system (current CPU, Motherboard Model etc.) and we can steer you into the right direction

BIOS boot setup screen:
PM613 bs

2007
6-13-2007
p4m800p-8237-6a7l6B09c-00

I think it is this one: http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en%2Dus/ ... hp?S_ID=95
It matches the number of USB ports, but both ver 1.x/7.x and 8.0 of that motherboard have 6 usb ports (2 in front and 4 in back) and of course I would hope that its the version 8, but I don't know how to make that distinction from the information I've provided. How do you tell in this case? Do I have to look at the motherboard itself?

What confuses me too is that there is also these other links that I cannot discern from:
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=p4m80-m7
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.as ... 0-m7a+v7.x
...as in i don't know if these are the same board as the 1st link above or if they match the BIO screen info I've provided..... yet neither of the previous 2 links would match by the 8 USB ports. I definitely only have 6, but perhaps those other 2 are internal and I don't realize they aren't hooked up????

I appreciate ya'lls help. Let me know if you need any more information.

If you want a definitive model number, download and run CPUz, then look on the motherboard tab for the make and model number.

However I'm afraid that it looks like your motherboard is a fairly 'old' one (at least in computer years), and will only support at best a fast Pentium 4 (or a Pentium D, which is a dual core pentium 4 and not that much better tbh).

In terms of upgrade options though; If the rest of your PC is capable enough, you can pick up a cheap intel CPU and mobo for $100 (total) and it'll outperform by a good deal whatever CPU you're currently running on that board.

Dan

Her machine is currently running:
Intel Celeron(R) D CPU 3.20GHz
3.21 GHz, 1.93 GB of RAM

Would I notice a big performance improvement if I upgraded from that processor to the fastest Pentium 4 I can put in the current board?

Considering it a Pentium D you should be able to run a low end say the E6000 range but look out the board will most likely not be able to take something like a E6750 or a E6850.

But yoiu will notice a big difference but i suppose it would really depend on what you used the PC for

Thank you again.

This computer's main use is casual internet browsing, farming on facebook (resource hog and main reason for wanting more power), music playing and occasional word processing.

What is the highest Pentium 4 or Pentium 4 D I could go to?

In percent or on a scale (via a link maybe) what difference you think I'd see from upgrading that Celeron D to a top speed Pentium D?

I have cpu-z on the system and I still do not see how to discern if this board is 1.x, 7.x or 8.x version. On the biostar link it says that next to the Socket 775 verbiage. Does anyone know how else I could verify this information? Where on the motherboard to look?

If a cpu uses a different nm size in manufacturing then I could not upgrade or swap to that other cpu right? I must stay with the same nm right?

Well the fastest Pentium D you can go to is 3.4Ghz, which is only 200Mhz faster than her current CPU. Even with the differences between celeron and pentium, I don't think it'd be worth the $110+ to get one.

Going back to my original suggestion, the current machine should be DDR2, and as it's not used for gaming, it shouldn't matter about using the graphics card (if it's PCIe you can, if it's AGP, we won't be able to), so upgrading to a cheap G31 / G41 motherboard ($45-$50) and like a Pentium Dual Core E5200 CPU ($65) would put you at $115, and performance far greater than even the 3.4Ghz Pentium D.

Dan

Thank you. Thats what I needed to know. I used to keep up with the processor generations and trends a long time ago, but it all moves too fast to worry about knowing until you need to know it. I'm glad there are still experts out there willing to give good advice. And now for my next post about another computer.

Ok, new information that I'm now positive of, as I got down to the nitty gritty and compared chip numbers directly off the chips of the motherboard. I am dealing with a P4M80 PRO-M7 Biostar motherboard (aka P4M800 Pro-M7) motherboard version 1.2 as shown on the board itself.

The correct user manual for this motherboard (finally found it) states this:
CPU
Supports LGA 775.
Supports Intel Pentium 4 processor up to 3.8GHz.
Supports Dual Core CPU.
Front side bus at the following frequency ranges:
- 400MHz (100MHz Core Clock)
- 533MHz (133MHz Core Clock)
- 800MHz (200MHz Core Clock)
- 1066MHz (266MHz Core Clock)
Supports Hyper-Threading Technology.

Keeping in mind that this information in the manual was written on/around 11/30/2005, what do they mean by "Dual Core"? Do you think they just mean Pentium D's? Or could I make a jump to something better?

Also, keeping in mind, this: http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en%2Dus/ ... hp?S_ID=95 - states the following specifics vs what I quoted above in this post from the user manual that was written on 11/30/2005:

# Intel® Pentium® D Processor
# Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor
# Intel® Celeron® D Processor

http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.as ... 0%20pro-m7 - is a better list of the motherboard specs

Think I could try an Exxxx series Pentium Dual-Core and that it would work in this motherboard?

I guess my biggest worry here is how easily were they throwing around the term "dual core" when they wrote what they wrote about this motherboard, because now dual core is stated in many different ways. I suppose though if the manual meant "dual core" was Core 2 Duo, then it would state the word "Duo" right? Since they use the word's "Dual Core" it makes me think it could take a Pentium Dual-Core manufactured middle of 2009 last year? or do ya'll think they mean "Dual Core" as in what is in a Pentium D only?

I still think they mean Pentium D only. The motherboard is too old for them to have meant the new Pentium Dual Core, chips and I think they'd have made a bigger deal of it supporting the core 2 duo line of stuff if that's what they meant. Besides, core 2 duo's weren't released till aug of 06, so the manual pre-dates their existence .

Dan

Ok, lets look at this another way.

Is the following TRUE?
If your motherboard matches the following specs of ANY given CPU, it will support it (at its fullest speed) most of the time:
Frequency range capable
FSB capable
Voltage (must be same or lower)
TDP (heat dissipation; must be considered for improving cooling needs or not)
Socket (the most important thing to match)
BIOs supports the CPU of matching specs (2nd most important)


If you use that information to shop for CPUs, is that really all you need 90% or more of the time?

Frankly, I think you should just get a cheapy Core 2-based processor such as the Celeron E3200 ($40~50) or maybe something from the Pentium E5000 series ($60+). If that doesn't work on your motherboard, then just buy an inexpensive G41 board (~$50).

I think that's the route you'd have to go anyway. That motherboard's too old to accomodate Core 2.

The set of criteria you gave should theoretically work, but sometimes, theory falls flat in the face of reality. There are motherboards that require a BIOS update just to work with an updated stepping of an already supported CPU. What I usually do is check the manufacturer's product page. Most of them now have CPU-support lists and even include what BIOS versions support specific processors.

What if I upgraded the bios chip to the v8.0 chip that supports the Core 2 Duo? The v1.2 of this board (the one I have) doesn't (as ya'll say) support a Core 2 Duo, but the v8.0 of this same exact board does support it. There are zero physical difference in the boards besides this bios chip.