Putting a cpu in above what the mobo can support - consequences?

[KyleMac]

I posted this in the CPU/overclocking board and it died quickly a week or so ago. Anyway I have a Abit KR7A-133 that Abit says with the newest bios supports up to 2100+ Palomino and 2000+ Thoroughbred. My dad has offered to buy my 1700+ Palomino off me for a decent price so I could upgrade my processor for pretty cheap. What would happen if I put a 2100+ Thoroughbred in the mobo? Most people I've asked can't actually be sure and said to just give it a go which is what I'm going to do unless someone is sure it wont work.

 

[SOSTrooper]

It won't kill your motherboard nor the CPU. The worst case scenario would be a no screen/no beep/no boot. You might see some side affects during the Post screen when you first boot up PC if it does boot up. I've seen it where it simply cannot identify the name of the CPU but reports the MHz correctly. In other word, if I am to put a 2100+ into a new board, it'll say "AMD Athlon XP 2100+" and in an older board it might say " [blank space] 2100+" or other varible messages. If it does boot to Windows w/o problem then most likely you are safe to use that CPU for your board even if it doesnt recognize the name. It surely doesnt kill your components.

 

[DannyBoy]

I killed a P3 900 a couple of years ago by putting it in a mobo that didnt support it

Thing burnt out after about 5 mins of me attemoting to switch it on and find the problem.

:|

 

[BmXStuD]

does it run @ the speed still even though its doesnt report right?

 

[KyleMac]

A possibility I could think of is that it might detect it as a 2000+ and set everything up accordingly. But if the multiplier is locked how can the mobo underclock it? So in escense the bios says 2000+, it performs at 2100+. But saying that what could happen if a bios says 12.5 and it really is 13. Could that have side effects?

 

[Insidious]

the MoBo can't grow a new multiplier just because you put in a CPU that wishes it could.

check for updated BIOS, look at the documentation for it (and look for FAQs at the mfgr. website)

I'm guessing that if the multiplier the CPU demands is not available, you won't get a post.


-Sid

edit: (since it does support some T-Breds, I don't believe you have to worry about physical damage)

 

[KyleMac]

Well it does support that multiplier, for Palominos.

 

[Insidious]

I see, that's gonna work in your favor.

Since you have the corrrect multiplier available, probably your worst case would be that you
would have to lower the FSB frequency a little bit for stability.

Knowing this, I think you will be able to get it to work OK. (maybe just slightly less than the rated speed of the CPU is all)

-Sid

 

[KyleMac]

I'm going to go to a comp fair on Saturday and see what I can get. Basically online prices minus the shipping, plus I can see the serial numbers.