Hello, everyone. According to the manual, the following processors are currently supported by my K7VMM+ (Socket 462 processor socket) motherboard: Athlon XP: 2000+ and up; FSB: 266 MHz Athlon: 650 MHz~1.4 GHz, FSB: 200 MHz, 266 MHz Duron: 550 MHz~1.2 GHz, FSB: 200 MHz With particular reference to Athlon XP: 2000+ ‘and up’ (as the manual terms it), does this mean I can upgrade to a processor that is in excess of 2 GHz with this particular chip? I have looked on the Net & have only seen a 1.67 GHz chip for this particular processor. My current processor is an Athlon XP 1.25 GHZ which, presumably has an adequate R.P.M. fan speed (don’t know the current fan speed at the time of writing), as it’s been working satisfactorily for the past 4 years. What R.P.M. fan speed should I go for, if say, I install a higher GHz processor? Are the ‘recommended’ processors something that you should not deviate from, or is there a flexibility for installing other brands? Should I notice any appreciable difference in performance if I install, say, a 1.6 GHz chip to replace my 1,25 GHz? And finally, is the application of thermal grease to the top of a freshly installed processor crucial? I have never installed or uninstalled a processor before, so any help/advice would be appreciated. Many thanks, Dave. .
The 2000+ is a PR rating. AMD is stating that it is comparable to the speed of the original Athlon core (Thunderbird) @ 2GHz. The speed the 2000+ runs at is 1.67GHz. The 2100+ runs at 1.73GHz, the 2200+ @ 1.8GHz...and so on. Due to the limitations of the chipset on your motherboard, you'll be limited to an Athlon XP 2600+ with a 266MHz FSB.
After reading Big Bro's reply, I have seen the following Athlon XP 2600 processor for sale: Manufacturer AMD Processor architecture Athlon XP (Model 8/Thoroughbred and Model 10/Barton) Frequency 2600 MHz (rated), 2083 MHz (actual, 333 MHz FSB and 256 KB L2 cache), 1917 MHz (actual, 333 MHz FSB and 512 KB L2 cache) or 2133 (actual, 266 MHz FSB and 256 KB L2 cache) L2 cache size 512 KB Bus frequency 333 MHz (effective), 166 MHz (actual) Package type 453-pin organic PGA (socket A/socket 462) Maximum operating temperature 85°C Voltage 1.65V I'm a little confused by the FSB speed I require. Big Bro mentioned that I my motherboard would support up to an Athlon XP 2600, with FSB: 266MHz. The abovementioned processor for sale also mentions FSB:333MHz in its description. Sorry to be a pain, but I want to try to make sure that I get the right processor for my machine and I know nothing about them. Manu thanks for any help. Dave.