help choosing a cpu/mobo

Godvict · Post by **Godvict** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:11 pm

hello, i need some advise.
My dad just bought a cpu/mobo combo from frys and he wants to trade me becuz he doesnt have a 24pin powersupply and he doesnt want to buy one.

I have a. Asus P4g8x Deluxe with a 2.5 p4 (thats i had for 2yrs or so).

He's got. ECS Elitegroup P4m800pro-M with a 2.80GHz Celeron D Processor.

I paid $240 for my mobo and another $250 for cpu. He paid $79.99 for both, seems to me like a ripoff. But anyways, what i want to know is. Is his setup faster then mine? Should i trade him?
and if i do trade him and swap mobo/cpu do i have to reformat? or can i just swap it and restart the computer.
THX

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:28 pm

you can use a 20 pin PSU on a 24 pin mobo just fine

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:39 pm

Is your 2.5 a 400mhz fsb or a 533? Sounds like a 400.

I think the celeron might actually be faster, its higher clocked and has SSE3. It only has 256k of L2 cache thougha nd urs should have 512k of cache.

Fortunately the board can he bought can use DDR or DDR2 ram, so you only have to buy a psu.

And yes you really would need to reinstall the OS. The drivers would be too different for it to work.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:40 pm

Brent wrote:you can use a 20 pin PSU on a 24 pin mobo just fine

You can use a 20 pin in a 24 pin connector, but the 4 pins are used so I wouldnt say just fine. Plug in all the 24pin mobos with 20 pin PSUs and laod them up, I doubt they will all function, if so, why add the 4 pins if they are not used/needed?

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:22 pm

I repeat, you can use a 20 pin PSU on a motherboard with 24 pin power just fine.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:32 pm

Brent wrote:I repeat, you can use a 20 pin PSU on a motherboard with 24 pin power just fine.

Then why are the 4 pins there and what is their purpose?

Godvict · Post by **Godvict** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:49 pm

I sent my dad to frys to get a 20-pin to 24-pin adapter. its only 5bucks.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:05 pm

YARDofSTUF wrote:Then why are the 4 pins there and what is their purpose?

I don't have anything to prove to you, you don't believe me, your loss. My information is correct.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:15 pm

Brent wrote:I don't have anything to prove to you, you don't believe me, your loss. My information is correct.

Well, I'd like to know why, are the extra 4 pins just a failsafe or something?

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:52 pm

YARDofSTUF wrote:Well, I'd like to know why, are the extra 4 pins just a failsafe or something?

The extra four pins provide more power through the 12v rails for the PCI-Express slot.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:14 pm

Brent wrote:The extra four pins provide more power through the 12v rails for the PCI-Express slot.

Thanks, I was guessing it was cpu related, and since it has no PCIe on that board, looks like he's well in the clear.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:23 pm

YARDofSTUF wrote:Thanks, I was guessing it was cpu related, and since it has no PCIe on that board, looks like he's well in the clear.

Even if he did the external power provided by a Molex connector is enough to supplement the PCIe slot provided power.

In either situation a 20 pin PSU will work fine on a 24 pin motherboard, just as I stated in my first post.