Change a 1.5ghz to a 1.8ghz processor - Tech Support Forums

Slayertime · November 2nd, 2003, 11:07 PM

I was wondering if i can change a 1.5ghz processor to a 1.8ghz. My 1.5ghz one crapped the bricks on me so i need to go buy a new one and i was wondering i can runa 1.8 in it instead of a 1.5ghz. Here is my system

Its a Sony Vaio 1.5ghz, Model is PCV-RX550 Not sure of the mother board type,
Pentium 4 Processor,
512 SDRAM,
Windows XP

StealthyV · November 2nd, 2003, 11:15 PM

during bootup, hit <del> and go into your bios. change your fsb speed.
do a quick search of the forums here for "oc'ing" etc and you'll be sure to find more suggestions, such as changing the voltage to the processor, etc.
or try a google search.
to oc my AMD 1.43ghz Athlon XP --> 1.67Ghz, I use a program (unnamed, but I'm doing the best I can) called: "SetFSB for EP-8kha+ Ver1.4d" for Via chipset KT266A/333/400. Copyright 2001-2 by "abo"
hope this helped.

~Branson

John Prophet · November 2nd, 2003, 11:31 PM

you need to find out more about the motherboard.

have you combed sonys website??

Or you can try this...

look for the "bios string"..which is a longggg number that shows up on the bottom of the screen during bootup.

for example it could look vaguely like this

MV85010A.86A.0011.P05

you may have to boot several times to catch it all, or try to hit "pause" while booting.

Anyway if you post that number we can probably figure it out for you.

Cuz you need to know..first of all...if it is a socket 423 or socket 478 Pentium 4....cuz they dont intermix, lol..so you need to know that from jump. Find out b4 you attempt to buy.

As far as the speed, either find u sthat bios string or try to check out sonys website for your model..for the specs etc.

JP

John Prophet · November 2nd, 2003, 11:42 PM

here it is huh...wow, RDRAM board

http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer...50_specs.shtml

maybe we have some p4 experts who can tell us what exactly we have here

Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 1.50 GHz
Cache Memory 256 KB Integrated On-Die Level 2
Front Side Bus Speed 400 MHz

To me, seems you should have some room for upgrading the cpu...you might even be able to go all the way to 2Ghz

But id feel better if we knew what motherboard it was for sure.

Dputiger · November 3rd, 2003, 01:08 AM

What you have there is a Socket 423 P4 system. Its almost certainly able to go to 2 GHz, assuming the chip's existing cooling solution is adequate (or, if it isn't, another can be found to replace it that is).

With 256 meg of RDRAM and a 1.5 GHz P4, you are definitely due for some ugprades. Unfortunately, 2 GHz P4 Socket 423 models aren't easy to find, but its the only one that really makes sense for you. A 1.8 GHz is a pretty small upgrade.

You might consider using a PowerLeap Upgrade adapter and plugging in a Socket 478 chip. Not only will this get you the additional cache of Northwood (and the speed boost) but it opens the door to a faster total upgrade.

A P4 2.4 GHz / 533 can be had for $166 on NewEgg. The PowerLeap adapter is $50. You could possibly get the same P4 on Ebay for $30-$50 less, which would knock a nice chunk off this total upgrade cost.

An extra 256 meg of RDRAM will run you $100, an extra 512 is about $188. If you intend to keep this system another couple years, though, its probably worth the money for the 256 meg upgrade.

So for a maximum cost of about $315 dollars you boost your CPU speed by 60% and double your RAM. Not bad.

Slayertime · November 3rd, 2003, 01:47 AM

Thats wierd because on my PC it says SDRAM PC-133 SDRAM. And i even bought another 256 stick and upgraded to 512 and i had to buy a 256 stick of SDRAM. Very wierd!

duffyone · November 3rd, 2003, 02:28 AM

You know, it might be possible that your Rx550 uses the Asus P4B-LX motherboard w/ Intel's 845 chipset (made for Sony... and Sony monkeys with the Bios so they don't let you change much, I mean much) to get into the bios I think it's your F2 key.... anyway, you probably have a 1.5 P4 478 pin processor and indeed uses SDRam... the early RX models, like the RX 460's were 1.5, but 423 pin... and required RDRAM.

here's the spec sheet for your 'puter:
http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/...s/pcvrx550.pdf
.... hope that's some additional help

Slayertime · November 3rd, 2003, 02:37 AM

See i would go into my bios but my processor is fried thats why im here to either get another 1.5ghz or upgrade to 1.8ghz. Please help me identify what this is.

http://www.reddeth.com/rd/p4.jpg

http://www.reddeth.com/rd/p42.jpg

Dputiger · November 3rd, 2003, 02:48 AM

Well, my data went off the previous link given. How big is your processor? Thats' the easiest way to know. Give us a length and width in inches. I'm not gonna count pins to see which you've got.

Oh-and how did you kill the chip?

Slayertime · November 3rd, 2003, 02:59 AM

Thats a dumb story i was cleaning out my pc and the fans because of dust and i removed the processor to clean around it and when i went to put it back in i bent some pins. i tried to straighten them out to the best i could and it still wouldnt work.

For the size its 1 1/2 for both lengh and the width