Can I replace a Duron CPU with an Athlon?

[Ostsol]

Both are older CPUs, the Duron is at 900 MHz and the Athlon at 1200 MHz. The motherboard specification list it as supporting both types, but I'm wondering about the bus speeds. The motherboard supports 100 Mhz and 133 MHz SDR RAM, but the Athlon supports 266 MHz DDR (PC-2100). As long as the RAM installed in the motherboard is at 133 MHz, will the Athlon operate at full speed?

For reference, here's the motherboard:

http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7sem.html

 

[3dilettante]

According the manual for that version, it should operate at full speed if the memory bus runs at 133 Mhz. It will run at a lower speed if the memory bus is set for 100 Mhz.

 

[Ostsol]

So the fact that the motherboard doesn't support DDR won't affect anything? It's just the base bus speed that matters?

 

[cristic]

So the fact that the motherboard doesn't support DDR won't affect anything? It's just the base bus speed that matters?

[baumannese]
Yes.
[/baumannese]






It's a pity the motherboard doesn't support DDR... but yes, having everything run @ 133 MHz is the best you can get from it.

 

[3dilettante]

So the fact that the motherboard doesn't support DDR won't affect anything? It's just the base bus speed that matters?

Just the bus speed matters. I think the DDR you are referring to with the Athlon is the FSB, which for that model runs at 133 Mhz with a doubled data rate.

Actual memory support for Athlons is handled by the chipset, so the processor never actually knows what kind of memory it is running with, and it pretty much doesn't need to.

 

[Ostsol]

Ok, thanks!