CPU cache compatibilty?

[Bombz]

I have a dell dimension 2400 and i am looking to upgrade my cpu, the only problem is most CPUs dont have the L1 cache compatibility with my mobo... was wondering if both L1 and L2 caches have have to be compatible with my mobo

 

[BassBomb]

ive never heard about cache sizes altering compatibility with motherboards

maybe you are on a differnet socket that u are looking to purchase, hence the confusion

 

[Bombz]

I have the socket right, its a 478 pin.. but when i put it in nothing happened and the cache wasnt the same as my mobo supported

 

[BrownTown]

umm, cache has nothing to do with whether or not a processor is supported by your motherboard and BIOS. Maybe if you explained what processors you are talking about we could help you find what is actually the problem...

 

[TheRyuu]

As post above implies, a tad more info would be nice

 

[Cheesetogo]

I think some motherboards don't support presscott, which has a different cache size than northwood.

 

[JWade]

unless i am mistaken, the 2400 supports 400mhz bus celerons, 400mhz and 533mhz bus northwood P4's up to 3.06 and thats it. No prescott support for the 2400 desktop.

 

[Bombz]

Ok.. i had an intel celeron that burnt up so i bought a new pentium 4 2.4 only it didnt work on my motherboard. So i looked over the specs again and compared them with what my motherboard supported. My motherboard only supports L1 cache of 8kb and L2 cache of 256kb - 512kb. My pentium 4 was L1 cache of 12kb-16kb and L2 cache of 1mb

 

[JWade]

if it has 1mb of L2 cache then its a prescott which is not supported

edit:also if it is the 800mhz it is also not supported for that reason as well, the board only has 400mhz and 533mhz

(I still have a 2400 that my daughter uses)

 

[TheRyuu]

Maby it's time for a new computer? I'm thinking AMD

 

[JWade]

get a used 533mhz bus P4 and a pci vid card the 2400 still gets the job done for a desktop. granted my daughter doesnt play any demanding games on hers (its a 2.6 P4) but it isnt too shabby. (I like my amd 3400+ better though)

 

[Bombz]

with my budget a new computer is out of the question... but thanks guys for the help appreciate it

edit: which brands of cpus does the 2400 support?

 

[JWade]

northwood P4s (pentium 4 with 512kb cache and either 400mhz bus or 533mhz bus)

and any 400mhz bus celeron, which i think goes up to 2.8ghz

does NOT support any 533mhz bus celerons (celeron D)

i have seen used P4 533mhz processors in the 2.5ghz range sell for 50 to 75 on the for sale forums here on anandtech

 

[Bombz]

any websites that offer northwood? ive been to newegg and tigerdirect and neither have them

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Bombz
any websites that offer northwood? ive been to newegg and tigerdirect and neither have them

They haven't been sold new in retail for a while. You will have to get one used most likely.

 

[JWade]

check out geeks.com also, i know they have them, but they are closer to the $100 mark and example is the link below:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=P42800B478&cat=CPU

but if you post a WTB thread in the for sale/trade forum i am sure you can get one for closer to $60 to $70