Will a core2 chip register on an older 775 motherboard?

[HeXploiT]

I have some older 775(P4) motherboards I need tested but the only 775 chip I have is a core2 e6300. Would it be safe to use this in these boards and will they recognize a core2 at all even as a single core or another chip? I just merely want to see if these motherboards are functional.

 

[Billb2]

You have to go the the motherboard manufactur's site and see if your BIOS will suppoit an e6300.
If not, the manufacturer may have released a new BIOS that does.

It's not likely it will even post without support.

 

[daveybrat]

Most older socket 775 boards like the older 865/915/925/945(first revisions) are not core2duo compatible and will result in no post at all. Only try it if the boards specifically say they will.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Billb2
You have to go the the motherboard manufactur's site and see if your BIOS will suppoit an e6300.
If not, the manufacturer may have released a new BIOS that does.

It's not likely it will even post without support.

That's not exactly true. I remember with many of the old durons and Athlons often motherboard didn't "support" the newer chips however they would still work fine but a 2500+ might only register as an 1800+.
More importantly I'm wondering if the basic architecture is close enough that I'm not going to fry the core2 should I attempt to try it out in one of these motherboards.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Most older socket 775 boards like the older 865/915/925/945(first revisions) are not core2duo compatible and will result in no post at all. Only try it if the boards specifically say they will.

That's the core of my question. See my last post.
I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Perry404
That's not exactly true. I remember with many of the old durons and Athlons often motherboard didn't "support" the newer chips however they would still work fine but a 2500+ might only register as an 1800+.

That's because the processors were identical, except for the stock FSB. A C2D isn't anything like a P4. And whether or not it will post depends on both the chipset and the BIOS version. See this page for details.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Perry404
That's not exactly true. I remember with many of the old durons and Athlons often motherboard didn't "support" the newer chips however they would still work fine but a 2500+ might only register as an 1800+.

That's because the processors were identical, except for the stock FSB. A C2D isn't anything like a P4. And whether or not it will post depends on both the chipset and the BIOS version. See this page for details.

Exactly, the Core2 architecture is competely different from the older P4's. I have had customer's try it anyways and they get.....no post!

 

[HeXploiT]

Some good answers. Thanks.

 

[Aluvus]

The Core 2 family require different (lower) supply voltages, and consequently require revised VRMs. That is why older motherboards will generally not POST with them. It has nothing in particular to do with their microarchitecture.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Aluvus
The Core 2 family require different (lower) supply voltages, and consequently require revised VRMs. That is why older motherboards will generally not POST with them. It has nothing in particular to do with their microarchitecture.

Umm, it has everything to do with their microarchitecture. How many 130nm Core 2 Duo's have you seen around? But, yeah, it involves the VRM, which is the same reason that a 45nm E8400 needs a BIOS update to be able to run on a board that has no problems with a 65nm C2D, yet doesn't need an update when ran on a chipset that was designed with it in mind.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Umm, it has everything to do with their microarchitecture. How many 130nm Core 2 Duo's have you seen around?

Is your second sentence meant to support your first one? Because it would appear to undercut the claim in the first sentence, by suggesting that the process node is the major factor at work.

Your post and daveybrat's second post implied that the crucial difference was that the Core 2 products used a different instruction set or something, which they do not. Or at any rate, not in a way that is visible to the motherboard. The motherboard doesn't really care that the Core 2 has fewer pipeline stages or can do macro-ops fusion, or in fact about most of the architectural features that disintguish Core from Netburst. That's how things are supposed to work.

w/e

 

[Andrew1990]

It will not post period. I am actually going through a problem with my ECS P965T-A and my Celeron L. I guess ECS sent me back a board without the bios update that allows Celerons to work right and I dont have a P4 to flash the board with. It wouldnt post so now I have to wait for ECS to send me a new flashed bios chip through the mail.

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: Aluvus
The Core 2 family require different (lower) supply voltages, and consequently require revised VRMs. That is why older motherboards will generally not POST with them. It has nothing in particular to do with their microarchitecture.

That's the only reason the older motherboards don't support Core2 CPUs. For example an ASUS P5LD2 supports Core 2 processors only from a certain revision (2.01G). The older revisions don't have a VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) of appropriate quality. It has nothing to do with the fact that Core2 and Netburst are two different architectures. In theory an i865 could also support Core2 CPUs. As long as proper VRMs are used. But why bother?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Qbah
In theory an i865 could also support Core2 CPUs. As long as proper VRMs are used. But why bother?

I have an i865PE board with a C2D in it. So does my mother. Call me crazy, but I always liked the i865PE chipset. You don't get insane high FSBs, but everything else works just great.