Help me with Cpu (athlon) question?

[ce]

I have the Asus A7V that the Asus website says I can go up to 2100
Athlon XP (with the latest Bios which I have). I ordered a 2100 and the
guys jerked around for 2 weeks before they finally shipped and they sent a 2200.

I dont know if they thought they were doing me a favor or what.
Anyhow, anyone know what will happen if I try to use this
in my mobo? Will it just run at 2100 speed? Or will it not even boot?
It's a retail calm shell so if I open it, I cant return it...

Any suggestions/info would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Greg

 

[mechBgon]

What variant of A7V do you have? Is it a straight A7V, or an A7V133, or another flavor? Can you spot a revision number on it somewhere near its silkscreened model number?

Welcome to the Forums btw

 

[ce]

Actually havent broken down the computer yet. Just got it this afternoon (cpu). If you need that info, I can get it. The Directx diag test pulled this: "Award Software, Inc. ASUS A7V-133 ACPI BIOS Revision 1009, 4/23/2002"

Is that enough info?

I have been a long time fan of anandtech and had an id some years ago, but I lost it so I had to create another. No where else could I think of to get any help on this problem.

Thanks!

 

[mechBgon]

Go ahead and pop the lid, we need the revision number of its printed circuit board as well as the complete model number (there are four variants of just the A7V133 alone).

Be aware that there are two versions of all the AthlonXPs from 1700+ to 2100+: there are the Palomino-core versions, and the newer Thoroughbred-core versions. Your board is probably not going to be able to run a Thoroughbred-core of any speed, no matter what its PCB revision is... and ALL of the 2200+'s are Thoroughbreds.

So let's start with your board model and revision number, to see what it can handle. By the way, is your RAM PC100 or PC133 right now?

 

[ce]

The rev number is 1.02
I dont see the model number anywhere on the pcb. It just says Asus A7V. That is it.

I think I have the A7V 133 VM, something like that.

I have 640mb of PC133 RAM.

Thanks for the help.

Sounds like you are saying that 2200 I cant use no matter what, right?

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, your board doesn't support it. Or not officially, anyway... I've heard of cases where it works anyway.

But the reason I asked about your RAM is that you could pick up an ECS K7S5A motherboard for under $55 and you'd be on your way. It has slots for two PC133 modules, as well as slots for two PC2100 DDR modules (can't use both types at once, of course) and the motherboard chipset definitely outperforms the old KT133A. The K7S5A available nowdays will support any AMD CPU with a 200MHz or 266MHz frontside bus, any core version*. So you could run up to a 2600+ with 266MHz bus in it (but not the 333MHz-based 2600+).

The K7S5A is known for liking a decent 300W+ power supply, so if you're using an older 250W unit, it should be a very good brand name. Otherwise you'd be smart to pick up a Sparkle Power 300W unit, they are known for being of good quality, not cheapie trash like so many PSUs these days. That is another ~$30, so you have to ask if this is worth it or not, I guess.




*probably not the AthlonMP 2800+ however