Pentium Upgrade

Well, the most important thing here is the Chipset in the Motherboard. If the chipset supports, then the motherboard will also support. Look into the manual to see if the chipset supports it or not. Alternatively you could also check the chipset-manufacturer's website to see what the chipset supports.

--- Hassaan
1751hrs on 15/Nov/2002 (+6 GMT)

When upgrading from a pentII to a IV why would you keep the same motherboard. The pentium IV support 533 mghz front side buses and faster ram than the pentium II. Most Likely your case will not support the power demands of a Pentium IV. It's time to either upgrade to a new machine totally or stick it out a while longer with what you have.

On what configuration your main board is. Do you have a Slot 1 or a socket 370? Like a previous post said would it support the faster bus speed of the newer processor, of course the memory that you have also has to match that bus speed. Figure out what kind of main board you've got and download the manual, it will have all the spec's and then you can decide if it even worth doing.

First of all the PII to the P4 will never happen as there have been a number of changes not the least of which is the socket type of the motherboard. (The beige plastic thing the processor plugs into) Each processor has different numbers and configurations of pins making it impossible to just switch.

A good resource to get without pushing a particular company is a magazine on newsstands now that goes by the heading "How-To-Guide" and comes from the Maximum PC guys. Inside is a complete listing of all new chipsets and processors that should provide you with enough knowledge to wow all retail behind the counter clerks.

First, you will never be able to upgrade a PII motherboard to use a P4.

Then, check your motherboard manufacture for compatable CPUs for your motherboard.

Depending on the motherboard, you are either maxxed out with the PII 450, or you have room to grow.
If this is an early PI MB, then the 450 is likely the fastest CPU that you can use.

You will be limited to using Slot 1 CPUs.

I agree with the others though.
WHY Bother!!!
A PIII Slot 1 CPU will cost around $75 to $125 when you find them.
For under $200, you can replace the motherboard, CPU and RAM with either a socket A (AMD) or a socket 478 (P4) and make a worthwile upgrade.

Chas