Nicholas wrote:
> So my machine is now 3 years old and I'd like to bump up the performance
> a little. I currently have an Athlon xp 2400 and 512 mb of PC3200 ram.
> The Mobo is a LeadTek WinFast K7nCR18D PROII. I have not been digging
> in Computers for a while (other than to replace a video card in the
> system) so I'm a little behind in whats going on.
>
> My questions to the mavens are:
>
> What is the most useful/practical higher speed CPU I can use with this
> board? (In other words if $100 gets me 2% more speed it is not
> practical.)
>
> The manual lists 3 dimm sockets for memoty, and only mentions that the
> memory be compatible with the BIOS FSB setting.(400) I currently have
> 512mb PC3200. I understand that if I add additional RAM it should be
> PC3200. However, do the other two have to be 512mb? Can I have other
> sizes? Mix and match if you will? Below is the info on the mobo.
>
> thanks
>
<<snip>>
http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/mo...7NCR18D-ProII/
As long as the BIOS supports it, you can use any processor you want. The
FSB goes to FSB400 on that board, so at the hardware level there is no
limit. But the BIOS may have a say in the matter. Leaktek's site leaves a lot to be
desired. I don't see a CPU support list, but maybe I'm blind.
http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/suppor...K7nCR18D+PROII
For RAM, there are three slots. Two slots are "close together". One
slot is a loner. The amount of memory in the loner slot, should
match the total memory in the two "close together" slots. If you
currently own a single PC3200 stick of size 512MB, you should
buy a second 512MB stick. Place the sticks in the two blue slots,
for a total of 1GB memory in dual channel mode.
You can use any RAM config you want, in fact. But if you match
the amount of memory, as described in the previous paragraph,
then you enjoy the slight benefit of dual channel memory operation.
(For dual channel, sum total of two paired slots must equal memory
in loner slot.)
The two inline texts below, are a list of CPUs, and the BIOS release
notes from the most modern Leadtek BIOS release. The fastest processor
you can buy is a 3200+. Compared to your 2400+, that would be theoretically
33% faster, based on AMD's P.R. rating. But if you look at the core clock
rate, the fastest processor runs at 2200Mhz and yours runs at 2000MHz.
Depending on what you are doing, it may not look like 33%. A lot of the
advantage of the fastest processor, is operating with a faster FSB improves
performance with memory. Perhaps a program like Photoshop, sees the
most advantage of using the Barton 3200+.
If this was my board, I doubt I'd bother buying another AthlonXP
at this point. Unless it was really cheap. For example, this
processor is more modern, and only costs $87. An extra 512MB
stick, to match your other 512MB stick, plus this processor, would
make the beginnings of a nice S939 board. This one comes with
a heatsink/fan. These will not be available forever, so if you
want one, buy it now.
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2.2GHz 1MB L2 S939 $87
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103622
******** Processor choices for S462 (list originally from QDI) *******
Family Core P.R. Pkg CPU Cache Mult Core Tmax Power
Freq Clk Volts
XP Model 10 2200 (3200+) OPGA 200 512 11x 1.65V 85oC 60.4W
Barton 2100 (3000+) OPGA 200 512 10.5x 1.65V 85oC 53.7W
XP Model 10 2167 (3000+) OPGA 166 512 13x 1.65V 85oC 58.4W
Barton 2083 (2800+) OPGA 166 512 12.5x 1.65V 85oC 53.7W
1917 (2600+) OPGA 166 512 11.5x 1.65V 85oC 53.7W
1833 (2500+) OPGA 166 512 11x 1.65V 85oC 53.7W
XP Model 8 2167 (2700+) OPGA 166 256 13x 1.65V 85oC 62.0W
Thoroughbred 2083 (2600+) OPGA 166 256 12.5x 1.65V 85oC 62.0W
XP Model 8 2133 (2600+) OPGA 133 256 16x 1.65V 85oC 62.0W
Thoroughbred 2000 (2400+) OPGA 133 256 15x 1.65V 85oC 62.0W
CPU ID 0681 1800 (2200+) OPGA 133 256 13.5x 1.60V 85oC 57.0W
1733 (2100+) OPGA 133 256 13x 1.60V 90oC 56.3W
1667 (2000+) OPGA 133 256 12.5x 1.60V 90oC 55.7W
1533 (1800+) OPGA 133 256 11.5x 1.60V 90oC 55.7W
1467 (1700+) OPGA 133 256 11x 1.60V 90oC 55.7W
XP Model 8 1800 (2200+) OPGA 133 256 13.5x 1.65V 85oC 61.7W
Thoroughbred 1733 (2100+) OPGA 133 256 13x 1.60V 90oC 56.4W
CPU ID 0680 1667 (2000+) OPGA 133 256 12.5x 1.65V 90oC 54.7W
1667 (2000+) OPGA 133 256 12.5x 1.60V 90oC 54.7W
1600 (1900+) OPGA 133 256 12x 1.50V 90oC 47.7W
1533 (1800+) OPGA 133 256 11.5x 1.50V 90oC 46.3W
1467 (1700+) OPGA 133 256 11x 1.50V 90oC 44.9W
XP Model 6 1733 (2100+) OPGA 133 256 13x 1.75V 90oC 64.3W
Palomino 1667 (2000+) OPGA 133 256 12.5x 1.75V 90oC 62.5W
1600 (1900+) OPGA 133 256 12x 1.75V 90oC 60.7W
1533 (1800+) OPGA 133 256 11.5x 1.75V 90oC 59.2W
1467 (1700+) OPGA 133 256 11x 1.75V 90oC 57.4W
1400 (1600+) OPGA 133 256 10.5x 1.75V 90oC 56.3W
1333 (1500+) OPGA 133 256 10x 1.75V 90oC 53.8W
********
******* Latest BIOS - release history file *******
K7NCR18D PRO2 Mother Board BIOS update history
BIOS VERSION 04/24/2003
1.Support Athlon XP 2600+/2700+ for FSB333(166MHz) & L2 cache 512K
BIOS VERSION 05/30/2003
1.Fixed ROM BIOS of some PCI card can't be flashed.
2.Fixed IR function work incorrectly in K7NCR18DM.
3.Supports CPU FSB clock up to 300MHZ.
4.Fix C1-Disconnect fail when APU driver installed.
5.Build-in Awdflash.exe version 8.24B in BIOS.
BIOS VERSION 06/25/2003
1.Added Mobile Barton 1800 + L2 512K (133MHZ) and
Athlon MP Low Power Model 6 Desktop CPU (L2=256K)
2.Fixed some USB 2.0 device that use Genesys's GL811 USB2.0 controller bug.
BIOS VERSION 07/03/2003
1.Fix resume from S3 then select shutdown that
will cause system restart but not shutdown.
BIOS VERSION 07/10/2003
1.Fix system resume from S3 will hung up when you use SATA hardisk is using
Raid0 or Raid1 function.
BIOS VERSION 07/21/2003
1.Fixed under Win98 some device will be disappeared when restart if you are
using BIOS date code after 6/25/2003 .
2.Fixed some WD Harddisk was manufactured during 4Q of 2001 can't be detected bug.
BIOS VERSION 07/25/2003
1.Add memory patch for Hynix HYMD264 646B8J-D43,HYMD232 646B8J-D43.
2.Fix system resume from S3 will hung up when you use SATA hardisk is using
Raid0 or Raid1 function.
3.Update Awdflash.exe to version 8.24F.
BIOS VERSION 08/11/2003
1.Add Duron 133 L2 64K CPU Support (CPUID=681)
BIOS VERSION 08/21/2003
1.Add Memory Prefetch item in BIOS setup to fix some RAM module compatiblity .
Note: If you have some memory issue
BIOS VERSION 10/01/2003
1. Supports AGP clock to 120Mhz
2. Update SATA Rom Ver. 4236
3. Fixes Duron 133 L2 64K CPU update Name ERROR.
BIOS VERSION 12/21/2003
1. Fixed AGP card auto-detect fail on C17/IGP some times.
2. Fixed USB fail when s3 resume.
3. Update SATA bios
BIOS VERSION 01/28/2004
1. Fixed changing CPU ratio failed.
BIOS VERSION 04/16/2004
1.Fixed PCI modem wake fail.
2.Update SATA ROM.
3.Fixed ACPI LED always bright.
4.Fixed S1 resume fail.
5.Fixed USB Mouse can't active under DOS mode.
BIOS VERSION 07/30/2004
1.Supports Sempron CPU.
2.Update awdflash.
BIOS VERSION 08/13/2004
1.Fixed can't enter windowsXP when plug SATA HDD.
*******
HTH,
Paul