| FAQ-Computer-Upgrade |
| Motherboard-select |
| Question: |
| How do I know what highest CPU my motherboard can support ? |
| Answer: |
| Pentium class motherboards support socket 7 CPU's of P55C or P54C types. The older P54C's |
| have 'single voltage' 3.3 or 3.45 volts. P55C's are MMX type and 'dual voltage' of 3.3 volt I/O |
| (external), and lower than 3.3 volts core. Three factors to consider |
| in upgrading CPU. (1) voltage, usually lowest volt reading it supports, 2.8 for Intel pentium MMX to |
| K6-2 2.2 - 2.4 volts, etc. (2) system clock speeds, 66, 75, 83, 95, 100 MHz etc. (3) multiplier of |
| system clock, 2.5, 3, 3.5 through 5.5 or higher. Check your manual or motherboard jumper/ dip |
| switch for maximum support. Manuals of many older boards indicate support of 200MHz, 66 x 3. |
| Often, it also supports undocumented 233MHz which is the same setting as pentium-100, because |
| 3.5x is the same setting as 1.5x . |
| Question: |
| How do I determine if my case is an ATX case ? |
| Answer: |
| There are two main layouts of the ATX standard. More popular one: Starting from left of rear view. |
| PS/2 mouse connector on top of PS/2 keyboard. 2 USB connectors on top of each other. Printer |
| connector on top of 2 9-pin serials. Optinally, audio |
| connectors to the right. |
| Another ATX layout: Starting from left of the rear view: |
| 9-pin serial, PS/2 mouse, PS/2 keyboard, printer, 9-pin serial, in this order to the right. |
| Question: |
| How do I determine if my case is an AT case ? |
| Answer: |
| AT standard case, either tower or desktop, has two 6-pin block power connectors marked black at |
| one end. The rear view of the case should have only one opening for AT-keyboard on the plane of |
| motherboard. Connectors for serial, printer, monitor, sound, |
| modem are not on the plane of motherboard. They are usually on rear mounting brackets of 'vertical' |
| add-on cards. For slim case, they may be mounted horizontally from a vertical riser card. |
| Page 3 |