Underclocking?

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techshare

I just picked up another Asus P4 Terminator 533A. Apparently CPU support is
only for 3.0+ P4's. I put in a new 2.4 P4, and the system just hangs. Is
there any way to make this work? I'm trying to build these systems at a
lower price point ... so a 3.0+ is too expensive. TIA for any help.
 
techshare said:
I just picked up another Asus P4 Terminator 533A. Apparently CPU support is
only for 3.0+ P4's. I put in a new 2.4 P4, and the system just hangs. Is
there any way to make this work? I'm trying to build these systems at a
lower price point ... so a 3.0+ is too expensive. TIA for any help.
Click to expand...

I think when it says "processor up to 3.0GHz+" it means that all p4's are
supported..
Have you tried looking on the motherboard for any jumpers,dip switches to
allow you to change the fsb?
 
The barebones system apparently supports any 478 pin P4 of the correct FSB
(front side bus) frequency, which would be 400 MHz or 533 MHz. (The fastest
chip is 3.06 GHz, with a 533 MHz FSB.)

Which 2.4 GHz P4 do you have?

The 2.4 GHz P4 was available with 400, 533, and 800 MHz FSB.

I don't know what would happen if you installed an 800 MHz CPU in the 533A.
If it ran, it might function at 1.6 GHz (12X133), which would be a bit of a
waste.

If that's what you have, I hope that you can exchange it.

Good luck.

Address altered. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
"Bob Knowlden" said:
The barebones system apparently supports any 478 pin P4 of the correct FSB
(front side bus) frequency, which would be 400 MHz or 533 MHz. (The fastest
chip is 3.06 GHz, with a 533 MHz FSB.)

Which 2.4 GHz P4 do you have?

The 2.4 GHz P4 was available with 400, 533, and 800 MHz FSB.

I don't know what would happen if you installed an 800 MHz CPU in the 533A.
If it ran, it might function at 1.6 GHz (12X133), which would be a bit of a
waste.

If that's what you have, I hope that you can exchange it.

Good luck.

Address altered. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
Click to expand...

Select "Barebone name" and use the pulldown menus.

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

The 533A supports Northwood 0.13u processors up to 2.8GHz.
FSB may be 400 or 533 - the FSB800 aren't listed.

Be careful when buying a processor, as there are many
Prescott derived 0.09u (90nm) processors now being sold,
and the BIOS and Vcore power probably don't support them.

You may have bought one of these - an SL7E8 2.4A Prescott with
FSB533. It has 1MB of cache and 90nm geometry. You want
a 512KB cache 0.13u geometry processor instead. The Prescott
draws 89 watts, whereas a 2.4GHz/FSB533/512KB Northwood
draws 60 watts.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/sc...cFam=483&PkgType=ALL&SysBusSpd=ALL&CorSpd=ALL

This is an example of one you might use:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/sc...Fam=483&PkgType=ALL&SysBusSpd=ALL&CorSpd=5371

HTH,
Paul
 
I'm pretty confused at this point. I installed a 2.6 P4 "C" ... and it
works. The chip I'm trying to install (that doesn't work) is a P4 533 FSB
2.4. I wonder if the CPU speed should be set to something manual, or the
other two settings ... 1.3 or or 1.7? TIA.
 
When you say "1.3 or 1.7", which CPU are you referring to?

A P4 2.6c is an 800 MHz FSB chip, and runs at 13*200 (multiplier of 13, base
frequency of 200 MHz), so if it ran at all on the p4 533A, your choices
should be 13*100 (1300 MHz) and 13*133 (1733 MHz).

A P4 2.4c would give 12*100 (1200) or 12*133 (1600). Wasteful.

Another poster remarked that you might have gotten a Prescott CPU. I had no
idea that Intel made Prescott CPUs at 2.4 GHz (with a 533 MHz FSB), but I
see that they are on the list. As the other poster remarked, it's probably
not compatible with the P4 533A, Further, if you got the barebones system
with the optional 165 W supply, it may be marginal for many P4 CPUs, not
just the Prescotts.

If your CPU has an S spec (such as the SL7E8 mentioned by Paul), search for
it at www.intel.com. If it's a Prescott (90 nm chip) or a "c" Northwood
(800 MHz FSB), you want something different.

Best of luck.

Bob Kn.

techshare said:
I'm pretty confused at this point. I installed a 2.6 P4 "C" ... and it
works. The chip I'm trying to install (that doesn't work) is a P4 533 FSB
2.4. I wonder if the CPU speed should be set to something manual, or the
other two settings ... 1.3 or or 1.7? TIA.

fastest
Click to expand...
(snip)
 
Thanks for the reply. It is a Prescott .... so you hit the nail on the head.
What's the deal with these Prescotts? What could I use it for? As I'm typing
this .. I just realized that I ordered another 3.0E Prescott. Since it's
already shipped, I can't cancel the order :( Hmm.. well I was planning on
using this chip for one of my own desktops and keeping the other (i think
Northwood) in the mentioned Asus barebones system. Would the Prescott 3.0E
be OK in my full size ATX desktop? It's a newer MSI mainboard which is
currently running with the 2.4A Prescott.
 
techshare said:
Thanks for the reply. It is a Prescott .... so you hit the nail on the head.
What's the deal with these Prescotts? What could I use it for? As I'm typing
this .. I just realized that I ordered another 3.0E Prescott. Since it's
already shipped, I can't cancel the order :( Hmm.. well I was planning on
using this chip for one of my own desktops and keeping the other (i think
Northwood) in the mentioned Asus barebones system. Would the Prescott 3.0E
be OK in my full size ATX desktop? It's a newer MSI mainboard which is
currently running with the 2.4A Prescott.
Click to expand...

I think they are used for melting ice at the polar caps.
 
"techshare" said:
Thanks for the reply. It is a Prescott .... so you hit the nail on the head.
What's the deal with these Prescotts? What could I use it for? As I'm typing
this .. I just realized that I ordered another 3.0E Prescott. Since it's
already shipped, I can't cancel the order :( Hmm.. well I was planning on
using this chip for one of my own desktops and keeping the other (i think
Northwood) in the mentioned Asus barebones system. Would the Prescott 3.0E
be OK in my full size ATX desktop? It's a newer MSI mainboard which is
currently running with the 2.4A Prescott.
Click to expand...

Generally, it is best if your motherboard vendor has a list of
supported CPUs. Sometimes a newer BIOS is required to make them
work (microcode patch update, parsing corrections, or the fix for
reading a 3.0 as a 2.8GHz etc). I frequently try to advise people,
by examining the entries at processorfinder.intel.com , but
that doesn't cover any motherboard quirks.

A 3.0E has the same TDP (thermal design power) rating as the 2.4A,
so the same Vcore converter should work with both. The 3.0E
Prescott will require more Vcore, as set by the VID signals
(no problem there). So, your MSI board may be BIOS limited, and
you'll need to look on the MSI site, to see if they provide the
amount of detail needed. You can always plug it in and try it.
The worst that will happen, is a lot of beeping, and/or no video.

What is the deal with Prescotts ? Higher leakage current, due to
smaller transistors. That wastes power without doing any useful
computing work. Prescott also has a deeper pipeline, so more
stages running at core speed. Prescott in S478 is a lot like
the early Pentium4, it looked like a loser, but was much
better when it ran at higher frequencies. So the architecture is
suited for higher operating speeds (i.e. you are paying for the
infrastructure of a 4GHz+ processor, but without running at
that speed.) But for owners of S478 motherboards, the only way
to find out, will be by using S775 LGA packaged processors. So,
you won't get to enjoy whatever benefit the Prescott may have to
offer at speeds greater than 4GHz. The extra signals on the S775
socket are there to handle more current.

HTH,
Paul
 
What is the deal with Prescotts ? Higher leakage current,
due to smaller transistors.
Click to expand...

Bigger L2 cache. And more functions. That consumes more power.
I heard of today don't used functions in Prescott that consumes power.
90nm would take less power than 130nm.
 
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