[Nuke]

anyone know how to determine the capabilities of a p4 processor,  mainly its cache and the maximum bus it supports.  you see i want to upgrade my video card, but my mobo only supports 4x agp, so i figure il replace the mobo and get some faster memory as well to avoid creating a massive bottleneck. but before i can buy a mobo i need to figure out what my proccessor can do.

[pyro-manic]

Look it up on the intel website? There's bound to be a spec table or something somewhere that'll tell you what chipset etc. you need.

[Scuddie]

There is no spec for a processor bus.  A CPU does not care what the FSB is.  It only knows it's own frequency.  What you need to look at is the northbridge.  There are some Intel chipsets that have an effective 1066 northbridge, but is often prone to overheat.  In reality, it all depends on what your memory is rated at.  If it's a base 33 (166, 200, 233, 266, etc) get the 1066MHz chipset.  If it's base 100, then get the 800MHz chipset.  Thats pretty much all you need to know.  Plus, it is best to get an 8X AGP slot and card, and run it in 4X mode.

[Grey Wolf]

You need to be careful about the FSB. If it's designed for a 533 bus, then it will need a motherboard that supports a 533 bus. Same for 400 and 800. Running it on a different setting would count as overclocking, and the chiup may not be able to handle it. Also, the locked multiplier that Intel employs prevents you from equalizing the clockspeed even if it could handle a faster bus.

[Nuke]

i dont know the specs on this chip, i remember that when i installed it all the serial numbers and other identifying marks were faded. the 1.7ghz chip i was running was a 400 mhz bus, but the mobo supports up to 566 mhz bus, as for my memory, its 266 mhz i think (pc2100). the chip im running now is 2.4 ghz. i just want to make sure that when i upgrade i dont make any more bottlenecks.

[WMCoolmon]

Try this:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/tools/frequencyid/sb/CS-007620.htm

[Nuke]

i beat ya to it

Intel(R) Processor Identification Utility
Version: 1.5.20050202
Time Stamp: 2005/02/23 03:42:49
Number of processors in system: 1
Current processor: #1
Processor Name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40B GHz
Type: 0
Family: F
Model: 2
Stepping: 7
Revision: 37
L1 Trace Cache: 12 Kµops
L1 Data Cache: 8 KB
L2 Cache: 512 KB
Packaging: FC-PGA2
EIST: No
MMX(TM): Yes
SIMD: Yes
SIMD2: Yes
SIMD3: No
Enhanced Halt State: No
Execute Disable Bit: No
Hyper-Threading Technology: No
Intel(R) Extended Memory 64 Technology: No
Expected Processor Frequency: 2.40 GHz
Reported Processor Frequency: 2.40 GHz
Expected System Bus Frequency: 533 MHz
Reported System Bus Frequency: 533 MHz

damn, thng doesnt support 800 mhz bus, or hyperthreading. a new mobo wouldnt make the thing any faster. what kinda boost would i get by using faster memory?

[Scuddie]

If you have a decent board, you can decrease the multiplier on-chip, and raise the FSB.  In other words, right now, you have a 533 bus with a 4.5 multiplier (533MHz * 4.5 = 2398.5MHz).  If you want to have a 1066 FSB, all you have to do is decrease the multiplier to 2.25, and the processor will have absolutely no problem with it.  This way, you can choose to add faster ram, as well.

[Taristin]

Heh. I tried doing that with my AMD. Lowering the 2800+ from it's stock setting at 166Mhz x 12.5 to 11.0 x 200Mhz. No go. Fiddled with the VCore, set it to 12.5 x 200Mhz @1.775v, and got it at 2500Mhz, but windows wouldn't load. Tweaked RAM latency, PC wouldn't power on.

I'm not touching that again.

[IceFire]

BTW: AGP4X to AGP8X is virtually no difference at all.

If you're going to upgrade...wait...then grab a PCI-Express board with 16x video capabilities (not that it means much), less requirements for Molex connectors to your video card, and a better processor.

Well thats what I'm doing.

I figure by the time I buy a new system from this one....PCI-Express will be standard, DDR2 or 3 will be standard, SATA will be standard.  Yeah that'll be a bunch of changes.

[Liberator]

But all that is many years yet...

[Nuke]

this is m y current mobo:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=645E_Max&class=mb

it has some drawbacks, such as the lack of serial ata support, and the lack of firewire/usb2.0 and only supports 4xagp, it also has of stuff i dont use, onboard sound, serial ports that kinda stuff

replacing mobo and ram has other benifits as well, i can use the old board and ram with that other p4 chip i have lying around. that way i could run my own server on the side.

so if i get a new board with 1066bus, my processor should support it. i think il use an intel board, even though my experience with them  would tell me otherwise, all the driver problems i remember them having. however the ones we used were low end, i remember there server boards were pretty good. id assume i should be able to use the really good ram. sure beats that generic low end crap im using now.

[Grey Wolf]

I don't think you can get a board with 1066 bus. The chips that support 1066 are LGA775, whereas you have a Socket 478 chip. Albatron has a 915P board that supports 478, but it seems to only support Prescott.

If you want to upgrade, I suggest a board based on 865PE or 875P. They lack PCI-Express, but there's no boards that support your processor with that, and the current high-end covers both AGP 8x and PCI-Express with parts that are basically the same. This one, for example, seems quite nice, and is selling for about $80 from Newegg. This MSI board doesn't look bad either, and is going for $73 at Newegg.

[Nuke]

so is my chip a northwood or a prescott? i really dont get intels naming convention there. i remember the days when processors made sense also i should mention i want the best board i can get incase i ever deside to upgrade to a better processor. so i want the fattest system bus i could get

[Taristin]

Go here:
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Get the program, and it'll tell you exactly what you have now.

Like mine:
http://3dap.com/hlp/hosted/14_year_war/Raa/cpuz.htm

[mitac]

[troll]
Naturally, I suggest throwing that crappy P4 out of the window and getting an Athlon 64.
[/troll]

[Grey Wolf]

You have a Northwood. The data you provided earlier indicated you had a 2.4B, which is one of the earlier Northwoods.

[Nuke]

i kninda thought this processor was abit newer, but i might just wait awhile before i upgrade my mobo/cpu/ram and just get me the video card for now, run it in 4x. then later on get the rest of the upgrades. that way i could finally go amd. but id like to use up theese extra p4s i got lying around.

[Taristin]

Originally posted by Nuke
but id like to use up theese extra p4s i got lying around.

Cup coasters?