Are Core 2 Duo boards compatible with P4's?

BenTal27

BenTal27

BenTal27

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I have a limited budget at the minute. So, I can either get a cheap processor/mobo combo, or get a mobo now and fit my current P4, then upgrade the CPU when I can afford to. Of course this is dependent on the mobo I choose supporting my old P4. Obviously I wouldn't want my motherboard choice to be governed too much by this. I was just wondering if many of the good boards do offer P4 support or not.

Help appreciated.
 
yep they tend to be compatible with p4's, pentium D's, c2d and c2q's, for example I have an asus board which has taken from a p4 2.4 right upto a q6600.
 
Remember some P4s are socket 478 - so you'll have to have a socket 775 P4 for it to even fit the socket.
 
This is true, im just selling a 775 p4 2.6 on the members market for £8 so they are hardly expensive to pick up second hand.

Also picked up a 775 pentium d820 for 15 notes late last year.
 
check on the manufacturer's website before you buy, they list what's compatible with each board.
 
Make sure your P4 chip is the LGA775 socket version and not the older Socket 478, otherwise you will not be able to get any of the modern motherboards within the recent years.
 
The latest motherboards, such as those based on the P45 chipset, are not compatible with P4 and Pentium D CPUs as the power circuitry has changed.
 
If your socket is socket 775 and not either socket 423 or socket 478 then maybe, however it is much safer to just buy a new cpu/motherboard/memory combo when you have the money.
 
Reality|Bites said:
there is no point upgrading just the motherboard, You wouldn't notice any difference.

Just save up some more and buy your motherboard and CPU together.
Click to expand...
I know, I didn't think I would notice much difference. But I currently have a Dell Dimension 4700. So, I'm also changing the case, PSU and RAM as well. It would make sense to wait until I can afford the processor and buy everything in one fell swoop. But as long as I intend to upgrade the cpu as well in the near future (which I do), I don't see any real problem.

Snapshot said:
The latest motherboards, such as those based on the P45 chipset, are not compatible with P4 and Pentium D CPUs as the power circuitry has changed.
Click to expand...
Is this true? Coz on Gigabyte's site I've not yet found one P45 MB that doesn't list support for my 530.

GA-EP45-UD3LR - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2951
GA-EP45-DQ6 - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2831
GA-EP45-DS3LR - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2898
 
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There are some boards which don't support the older range, I think Asus did some boards.

If the manufacturer shows support then you should be fine, it will be down to personal choice on which board you choose.
 
I checked very carefully before posting and my EP45-UD3P showed N/A for all the P4s and Celerons. Now, magically, it's changed to F5. :confused:
For some reason the P35-DS4 rev 1 doesn't support Celerons but is okay with P4s.
 
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