Question about this MB and older CPU

[DaveLembke]

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=945GC-M4&cat=MBB

The above linked motherboard my friend was asking if it would work with his Socket 478 Pentium 4 2.0Ghz CPU. His old gaming computer died when he went in with a screw driver with the computer off to try to remove the AGP video card and accidentally drove the flat headed screw driver across a series of traces around the RAM banks cutting through traces while trying to release the AGP card ejector which most people do by finger and not screw driver.

I took a look at the board and its a deep trench with about 15 traces wiped out as well as the possibility of traces on the 2nd layer of the MB PCB.

I told him its time for a new computer and he said that he cant really afford one. So he shared this motherboard in an e-mail with me and while it probably works well with later socket 478 CPU's, I have concerns whether this CPU is too old for this board. All info online states Pentium 4 ( which appears to include all ).

I told him that if it does support the Pentium 4 2Ghz socket 478 CPU that I can give him a 1GB 667Mhz DDR2 RAM stick and an older PCIe Radeon x1550 video card with 256MB RAM and assist with the repair install required to bend his current Windows XP Home install around this new hardware.

I am thinking that he will just have to take a chance at $40+ shipping, but figured I'd check here first before he buys it. I tried to talk him out of this motherboard and even going with a barebone motherboard and CPU combo for $100, but he said he doesnt want to pay that much even though the performance gain of a modern single core over this yesterday 10 year old single core is a drastic performance gain. I then told him that if you want to go with this motherboard then how about we find you a Pentium D 3Ghz which this board should support and of which it acts like a dual-core due to the Hyperthreading and he is set on the cheapest fix available without performance in mind. Tried to explain to him that for around $60 he can fix this and have a far better running system with the RAM and Video Card I an giving away to him to help him out which are old but still good parts.

His prior build was:

MSI Socket 478 Motherboard
Pentium 4 2.0Ghz Socket 478
1GB DDR 266Mhz ( 2 x 512MB sticks )
XFX nVidia GeForce 6200 8x AGP 256MB RAM Video card
160GB IDE HDD & DVD/CD-RW combo drive
1.44MB Floppy Drive

New Build if you guys agree that a 2Ghz P4 will run in this with newer board than the CPU was intended for

Biostar Socket 478 Motherboard
Pentium 4 2.0Ghz Socket 478
1GB DDR2 667Mhz ( 1 x 1024MB PNY stick )
ATI Radeon x1550 16x PCIe 256MB DDR video card
160GB IDE HDD & DVD/CD-RW combo drive
1.44MB Floppy Drive

Kind of wish he wasn't so stuborn to stick with this old CPU, but it is what it is     Asking here for OK on this as for I have never mixed an old CPU like this with modern guts as this board appears to allow.

[Computer_Commando]

Geeks closed Friday, August 2nd, 2013:  http://www.geeks.com/

If you're moving the P4 from the MSI to the Biostar, you need to know the exact P/N of the P4 because the FSB of the P4 could be underclocked.  CPU support list shows no 2.0Gz.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=440#cpu

[samlacz]

old specs will be compatible to the desired new specifications. 

[DaveLembke]

Thanks Computer_Commando for info, especially stating that this business is officially closed which we were not aware of. Surprised they didnt take the time to modify their website to redirect all pages to this as for it still gives the appearance of active to those who stroll on in to pages skipping main home page as was what happened with google search and direct link. Thanks for linking CPU support reference for this board. For some reason when I looked at it yesterday I saw 400/533/667 in the spot for Processor, but I read it wrong. The Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz is 400Mhz FSB socket 478 with 512k Cache

Memory •Supports up to 2 GB dual channel DDR2 400/533/667 MHz memory 

Processor •Supports 533/800 MHz FSB

Here is the info that should be on their website, with all pages redirected to this statement:

As of today, Friday, August 2nd, 2013, we are turning off ordering on Geeks.com. We will cease to sell and ship products immediately. Geeks.com has always stood behind our products and don’t intend to stop now. We plan on fulfilling all of our responsibilities and liabilities, including, orders, any credits due will be issued, and we will have a small staff on hand to answer questions, to process returns, and to faithfully honor warranties. Please be patient as we will have no phone support. Please click here for any customer service related issues. If you have a problem with a product or a technical question we can help with, please send it here. The corporation itself is not closing. Our retail store in Oceanside California is open for business and will remain open!

* I guess I am not going to buy that Dell dual quadcore Xeon 1U server that I saw for sale through them for like $270 then also... oh well... at least now I may be able to convince him to buy a modern motherboard and CPU if I can get him to avoid ebay   

[Geek-9pm]

For general reference. The Intel  Xeon is a family pf CPUs that are not really the same as to others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
The article above is flawed. But the point is this this: Do not think that the Intel Xeon is a current mainstream CPU. It is not.  It is for use in servers. It is a legacy item.  The higher price does not translate into higher performance in a single user system.

[Computer_Commando]

Geeks now has a wholesale website:  http://www.evertek.com/

If you have the CPU  in front of you, entering the part numbers into this website will tell all.  Socket 478, 2GHz is not enough.
http://www.cpu-world.com/index.html
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium_4/index.html

Socket 478 was superceded by Socket 775, which is more readily available & is fan compatible with Socket 1155, i.e. same hole spacing.  That P4-2GHz will likely run at 1Gz in that motherboard.  Biostar had issues with bad caps on 478/775 mobos, buyer beware.  478, itself had heat issues.

I still have a Pentium D-925-3GHz, overclocked 20% to 3.6GHz, runs about 25-30degC in 80deg ambient.  It will be my last WinXP machine.

[DaveLembke]

Thanks for additional info ... going to see if I can use geeks shutdown as leverage to get him to make the right decision to upgrade to modern for around $100 using a mix of old and new guts, a more modern motherboard such as a AM3 with a Dual-Core Athlon can be achieved for far better performance than the P4 that he was stuborn about sticking with. I can still give him the DDR2 RAM and Video Card and the rest of his hardware will match up to a MB that has an IDE controller 

[Calum]

For general reference. The Intel  Xeon is a family pf CPUs that are not really the same as to others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
The article above is flawed. But the point is this this: Do not think that the Intel Xeon is a current mainstream CPU. It is not.  It is for use in servers. It is a legacy item.  The higher price does not translate into higher performance in a single user system.

Xeon is a line of processors, not a model.  Those specific Xeons are a few generations old, correct, but there are also Xeons from 15 years ago and Xeons in production today.  They're also not always priced higher than their mainstream equivalent and there's nothing stopping a normal user from using a Xeon based machine for everyday tasks.

[Geek-9pm]

Calum, I stand corrected. If the price is right, the Intel ntel  Xeon  is a good choice.
as you said "Xeon is a line of processors". One must may attention to the specs for the specific model. There is a wide range.