P4 northwood cpu/mobo mystery

djk2450 · 11-25-2005, 01:53 PM

i have a P4 northwood 2.4 mounted on a ecs micro ATX mobo. it has been nothing but trouble since my wife bought it at fry's (house special) 2 years ago. i want to put the cpu on a new mobo and need to know if there is a code or something to tell which mobo is compatible with the northwood vs the prescott cpu. some manufacturers mention prescott and not northwood, and vice versa. thanks for any replies.

POW/MIA.........never forget, never again!

kof2000 · 11-25-2005, 01:57 PM

find out the socket number. and match it with the mobo.

djk2450 · 11-25-2005, 02:51 PM

it is a socket 478 and the cpu is a P4 2.53, not 2.4. i have seen mobo's that say they support one and not the other, northwood vs prescott. will all prescott-compatible mobo's support northwood? i am fairly new to computing, but am learning as quickly as possible. this forum has been an enormous help in mining information. thanks again.

**Lax** · 11-25-2005, 06:36 PM

Any s478 mobo will work with that CPU, it's a 533 bus Northwood which will work with any mobo that supports 533 and up (meaning 800). Depending on what you are doing with it you can either spend money, or save money, on the mobo. (if you're buying a new mobo you might want to buy new ram as well)

djk2450 · 11-25-2005, 09:05 PM

thanks for the information. i want to use this computer as an experimental one, as my wife bought herself a dual core dell xps 400. she gave me her old one and i want to try various things with it, but first i have to make sure the hardware is as error-free as possible. i am fairly new to computing, but i like to mess with the components. thanks again. have a good holiday season.

POW/MIA.........never forget, never again!

11-25-2005, 01:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
djk2450 New Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12	P4 northwood cpu/mobo mystery i have a P4 northwood 2.4 mounted on a ecs micro ATX mobo. it has been nothing but trouble since my wife bought it at fry's (house special) 2 years ago. i want to put the cpu on a new mobo and need to know if there is a code or something to tell which mobo is compatible with the northwood vs the prescott cpu. some manufacturers mention prescott and not northwood, and vice versa. thanks for any replies. POW/MIA.........never forget, never again!

11-25-2005, 01:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
kof2000 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Oahu Age: 26 Posts: 6,273	find out the socket number. and match it with the mobo. __________________ QX9650@4.2 swiftech \|9600@3.0 9700 nt 780i \| 790fx 8gb ddr1200 \| 8gb ddr1200 2x150gb 3x1tb \|2x250gb 3x8800gtx \|3x2900xt 1gb 2x20xdvdrw \|2x20xdvdrw 15in1 card reader \|15in1 card reader ng15/g9 \|ng15/g9 1200w psu \|1200w psu 2x28" LCD \|2x28" LCD

11-25-2005, 02:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
djk2450 New Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12	therein lies the..... it is a socket 478 and the cpu is a P4 2.53, not 2.4. i have seen mobo's that say they support one and not the other, northwood vs prescott. will all prescott-compatible mobo's support northwood? i am fairly new to computing, but am learning as quickly as possible. this forum has been an enormous help in mining information. thanks again.

11-25-2005, 06:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
Lax Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Snow country Age: 21 Posts: 2,256	Any s478 mobo will work with that CPU, it's a 533 bus Northwood which will work with any mobo that supports 533 and up (meaning 800). Depending on what you are doing with it you can either spend money, or save money, on the mobo. (if you're buying a new mobo you might want to buy new ram as well) __________________ He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.

11-25-2005, 09:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
djk2450 New Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12	thank you, Lord and lord thanks for the information. i want to use this computer as an experimental one, as my wife bought herself a dual core dell xps 400. she gave me her old one and i want to try various things with it, but first i have to make sure the hardware is as error-free as possible. i am fairly new to computing, but i like to mess with the components. thanks again. have a good holiday season. POW/MIA.........never forget, never again!

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