Two Newbie Questions

[Hardhead7]

I'm just starting out in building my own computers, so excuse the dumbness of this question.

My first question is this: A year or so ago, I built myself a computer. I read some reviews and picked out the K7S5A from ECS as my motherboard, as it was cheap and stable (I'm not interested in overclocking or frills) and got a Athlon 1700+ for my precessor. Anyway, now I'm looking to upgrade my processor. Only problem is, I don't know what the K7S5A will support. See, I bought them as a combo originally. I searched the interenet but couldn't find an answer to my question: how do you tell if a processor is compatiable with your motherboard?

My second question is: I want to get some new memory as well, as I'm still using PCC 133. My current motherboard supports up to 266mhz (2100) DDR, but as I'll eventually be replacing it, I want to plan for the future. If I buy higher speed DDR, such as 400 mhz (3200), will it still run in my current motherboard at 266mhz?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hardhead7]

sorry, replied when I meant to edit.

 

[databyss]

i have the same board.

To get the answer to your question, you have to check the mobo manufacturers web site: www.ecsusa.com. Check if you have revision 1 of the board or revision 3.

I'm pretty sure the board says it'll support most AMD Athlon XP Processors.


I'm not sure about the memory question myself, i'm still pretty new at this. I think you can use the DDR400, but i'll run at the slower speed.

 

[Hardhead7]

Could someone confirm the memory answer?

 

[Breezie]

faster memory will run at the highest speed your mobo supports so ddr400 will run at ddr266 for example

 

[JBT]

If your not interested in Ocing I would just get PC2100 ram though if u can get the PC3200 or 2700 for about the same price it may be worth it since it is likely it will run at lower latencies. I would guess that that motherboard supports up to a 2400XP just a guess though.

 

[Hardhead7]

OK, I found a table here that shows processor compatibility (I also checked. I have a 3.1 board). This table has two columns with processors listed in them, one called "133MHz" and another called "133MHz (0.13µ)", with different processors listed in different tables. What's the two columns mean?

 

[Ionizer86]

the .13 micron column refers to the newer shrunken down chips (Thoroughbred specifically). So if you find a Tbred you can plug it in. Most 2600+ chips have the wrong bus (333 instead of 266) so in practice, the highest upgrade you can get would be a 2400+ chip, pretty much all of which are Thoroughbreds (.13 micron).

For question two, I'd recommend buying some PC3200 ram as long as the cost is about equal to PC2100. That way, you'll be getting faster ram for about the same money, and you could use it with a future upgraded motherboard

 

[Hardhead7]

Thanks for the help everyone, I really appreciate it!