KT133A + 333 FSB Sempron: Will it Work???

[Pretty Cool]

Motherboard is a Chaintech 7AJA2 which is SDRAM-based and uses the Via KT133A chipset. Current CPU is a Athlon 1000C(1000mhz/256k/266fsb/7.5x/1.75v).

Can I use a Thoroughbred-B Sempron 2500+ (1750mhz/256k/333fsb/10.5x/1.6v)? I realize that the kt133a does not support the faster bus speeds, but can the processor be run underclocked at 266fsb without any issues? Since all the pieces are basically discards, it does not matter if the machine is not running optimally. I just want to make sure that nothing fries.

Thanks.

 

[xsilver]

yes, I would think it should work at 266fsb although the main concern is how low a voltage your mobo can supply, otherwise it may be overvolting it at default.
it shouldnt fry the chip however provided you have adequete cooling due to the added heat. if your bios doesnt have voltage monitoring, try cpuid.
and if you can set voltages in bios, all the better.

edit:
btw. If you dont realize, you'll only be upgrading the cpu by 400mhz, not mind blowing by any standards -- and you'll have no OC headroom on that mobo

 

[betasub]

Should be fine. The BIOS reads the voltage requirement from L bridges on the CPU package: 1.6V should be detected automatically. Because it won't recognise the correct FSB for the T-bred, it may default to fail-safe 200FSB - in this case you'll need to be able to set the FSB to 266 in BIOS.

 

[cubby1223]

You can likely find a used XP 2000+ or 2200+ in the fs forum for cheaper than a Sempron, and is officially supported by that motherboard.

 

[mitaiwan82]

I'm would actually disagree w/ other posters in this thread. On my old Soyo KT266A board, the fastest Athlon XP supported was with a palomino core. I have tried using a Thrououghbred core and Barton core, which would result in a blank screen and the computer would not POST. I had to mod the mobo in order to get a Barton 2500+ working (at 266FSB).

I also had a Epox KT266 board which refused to work with any Athlon XP chips. YMMV though, as I remember the old 440BX boards running some chips way beyond their time.

 

[Pretty Cool]

This Chaintech officially supports Thoroughbred processors, so that was not an issue. Anyway, I just tried the processor and works as expected running at 1.4ghz/266fsb/1.6V. Sure there are cpu's that would be faster, but at this stage of the game, I do not want to spend more than a token amount on this system. Since others assumed the Sempron was dead, I was able to buy it for a song. So unless somebody offers a AthlonXP for free to me, this upgrade is worth it even though the increase was only 400mhz.

One question I have though is concerning the thermal pad on the heatsink. Both the thermal pad AND thermal grease have been applied. My understanding was that it was an either/or proposition. Either apply the pad or paste, but not both. So, should I remove the paste, remove the pad, or just leave it as-is?

Thanks again.

 

[grrl]

You don't need both, although it won't likely hurt anything if you leave it as is. However, less is usually better, so if you want to do it *right*, remove the thermal pad and grease, then remount the heatsink with just the grease. You can scrape the pad off with some stiff plastic or, better, use some sort of solvent. I believe mineral spirits will work. Just don't use anything that will gouge or score the mating surface.

PS, I've read that since thermal pads need to sure and somewhat bond to the CPU, removing the heatsink then reusing the pad decreases its efficiency. Maybe others can clarify that.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: grrl
You don't need both, although it won't likely hurt anything if you leave it as is. However, less is usually better, so if you want to do it *right*, remove the thermal pad and grease, then remount the heatsink with just the grease. You can scrape the pad off with some stiff plastic or, better, use some sort of solvent. I believe mineral spirits will work. Just don't use anything that will gouge or score the mating surface.

PS, I've read that since thermal pads need to cure and somewhat bond to the CPU, removing the heatsink then reusing the pad decreases its efficiency. Maybe others can clarify that.

do not reuse a thermal pad/paste ..just paste after cleaning all old off then apply new ..clean the die on the cpu as well ..check the mechBgon link in my sig ...out of the 5 7aja* chaintech based rigs I'd built back then 2 are still running

 

[Pretty Cool]

Okay, thanks.