Processor FSB compatability

[geekliness]

Okay, so I promised someone that I would build her a computer, and in her eagerness, she ran out and bought a processor from CompUSA (Asus A7N8X-E "deluxe"), ripped it open, tore the box, etc. Fine, dandy, jolly, whatever, I had looked at everything and figured that it would work... However, time has come to put in a processor, and when I look at the processor requirements, it says that it is designed for 400 MHz FSB. I mean, whoa, she didn't give me enough money to pay for a processor that good (this is my amazing $500 PC, and she blew $260 of it on the motherboard and case from CompUSA).

And, so, after my longwinded story, I pose a question... If a motherboard is designed for a processor with a 400MHz FSB, could it also run, say, a 333MHz?

 

[ceh4702]

Personally I would not have purchased an Asus A7N8X Deluxe. I like Asus but I think the Asus A7N8X Ultra 400 that I paid about $85.00 for that works fine. I put an XP2800+ processor on mine that is 333Mhz FSB. My son has the Deluxe model and has an XP2400+ on his. That motherboard can handle 266,333, and 400 Mhz FSB. It also supports DDR266,DDR333, and DDR400. It might need a flashed BIOS to support Sempron Processsors. They will run without a BIOS flash, but may be reported incorrectly by the BIOS.

That board is Dual DDR and runs just a little faster if you install the DDR in Pairs of matching RAM. I only use one stick of 512Meg of DDR333 in mine.



If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[geekliness]

HA YES, I HATE YOUR POST.

Oh, wait, no I don't. It was very helpful (and, yeah, I don't really use Asus... I'm loyal to Soyo, but someone that knows nothing about computers looks for the best sounding thing, I can only assume). I guess I'll buy something cheap off of eBay, and if it works, then I'll use it, and if it doesn't, I'll ask for more money.

So, on a side note, what draws you to Asus? I've never used one of their boards before.

 

[dakota81]

People are drawn to Asus because their boards work, and they work very well.

Soyo on the other hand has had a much poorer history in terms of hardware defects, and now they are quitting the motherboard business, so you won't be able to buy them new for much longer. Actually, what Soyo did was just before they announced they were quitting the business, they put all their motherboards on a special promotion for a mail-in rebate for the full cost of the board. A lot of people bought their boards and will never see their rebates.

That's something Asus is far less likely to do to consumers.

 

[geekliness]

I've always had great experiences with Soyo... I don't know. Maybe I'm just magical... Or something.

From what I've seen with this board, I'm not too pleased with it. Random pins were bent when I got it out of the box (I straightened them, and everything seems to be working out well), the manual was unclear, etc. I'm hoping that this isn't a common problem, because I guess if Soyo is going out of business, I'll have to find another company to buy from, and since Asus is readily available, it may as well be from them.

 

[edemiere]

Yeah Dakota. 4 out of 5 motherboards I have gotten from Soyo have been bad out of the box and the 5th one died in a week. And these were replacements from the factory. So, I just dumped it in the box and said I'd never try another.

I have used Asus for YEARS and was only trying something different. Never had a bad Asus board out of the box and never had one fail/die in all these years...

Just my experience...