Motherboard MS7046 CPU upgrade

[Simon]

Hello,

I have a motherboard from Microstar International MS-7046 (v1). I m using an Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.20 GHz processor. The processor is a LGA775

I d like to replace and upgrade this processor. I can t find any info either on the MSI and Medion site About this motherboard.

1. Does anyone know the best CPU upgrade processor?

2. Does anyone know whether i have to upgrade my BIOS? I m not very conveniënt with that.

3. Do i have to install windows 7 again?

Thans in advance.

Simon

[jrmunro]

Here is a list of supported CPU`s

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_%28chipsets%29/915P_Express.html

If you want to use Medion`s site you need to enter the serial # to get BIOS upgrade info and more.

Here is the board specs

http://laptok.nazwa.pl/allegro/ms7046/SPEC.pdf

[fenyal]

CPU
Supports Intel®
Pentium 4 Prescott LGA775 processors in LGA775 package.
Supports up to Pentium 4 3XX, 5XX sequence processor or higher speed.
Supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology.
Chipset
Intel® 915P chipset
- Supports FSB 533/800MHz.
- Supports DDR 400/333 memory interface.
Intel®
ICH6 chipset
- Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 8 ports.
- 4 Serial ATA ports with transfer rate up to 150 Mbytes/sec.
- 1 channel Ultra ATA 100 bus Master IDE controller.
- PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.
- ACPI 2.0 Compliant.
Main Memory
Supports four DDR1 SDRAM memory modules.
Supports up to 4GB memory size.
Supports Dual channel DDR1.
Slots
One PCI Express x16 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant).
Three 32-bit v2.3 Master PCI bus slots (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface).
- The second PCI slot (PCI2, in blue color) supports 2 master devices.
On-Board IDE
One Ultra DMA 66/100 IDE controllers integrated in ICH6.
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Can connect up to Two Ultra ATA drives.
Serial ATA 150 controller integrated in ICH6.
- Up to 150MB/sec transfer speed.
- Can connect up to four Serial ATA devices.
On-Board Peripherals
On-Board Peripherals include:
- 1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes
- 1 serial port
- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode
- 8 USB 2.0 / 1.1 ports (Rear*4 / Front*4)
- 1 RJ45 connector
- 1 Rear 1394 port (6 Pins) / 1 Front 1394 port (4/6 Pins)
- 1 Coaxial SPDIF-Out / SPDIF-In
- 1 MIC-In
- 4 Line-Out

this is what i found out about the board model you gave us. to answer your #3 question. replacing the processor will not affect your operating system. the operating system might have to load up a couple new drivers if anything but thats about it as long as the bios supports the processor. however.. finding out if the bios supports your processor is a different story.

the 915p chipset is said to support the maximum processor of this: Intel Pentium 4 672 3.8 GHz.

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/915P_Express.html

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Pentium_4/Intel-Pentium%204%20672%203.8%20GHz%20-%20HH80547PG1122MH.html

the chipset does NOT say that the bios will pick up on the processor though. HOWEVER the support page says the board supports 3/5xx processor numbers OR higher speeds. the only way i can see that you would get higher speeds is to go above the 5xx into the 6xx number processors. it does support hyper threading which the 6xx processors are. the 6xx processors are still prescotts so you SHOULD be ok to upgrade the processor to the 6xx series.

with the lack of sku numbers it's hard to tell what processors are EXACTLY supported so it's always a risk when dealing with these vague details.

i hope i have helped and i wish you good luck on your upgrade!

(here is the link to the manual for your motherboard)

http://laptok.nazwa.pl/allegro/ms7046/SPEC.pdf

[fenyal]

jrmunro you were just a bit quicker on the draw.. lol

[Guest]

Fenyal,

Thanks for your extended explanation. Helped me a lot.

My current processor is a 32 bits and i just bought and installed a win 7 32 bit version.

I have to reconsider the upgrade because of costs for a win 7 64 bit version and processor for this fairly old system. Because it still runs smoothly.

Think again. I lerarend a lot.

Simon

[fenyal]

just because a processor can run 64 bit instructions does not mean the operating system HAS to be 64 bit. the system will just perform better if it 64 bit. lol it's not a requirement though.

[mavroxur]

[fenyal]

good point mav! i totally agree.

3gb ram or less = 32bit
4 gb or more = 64bit

that is the primary rules of 32bit vs. 64bit

[Mike]

It is so hard to find anything online about this motherboard, i have the issue I want to upgrade and i have a Intel Pentium D 3.00 GHz / 4M / 800 - Dual Core - SL95X - Socket 775 will this work on this motherboard ?

[Guest]

Absolutely not. This chipset doesn't support the processor. It can support Prescott, but not Presler.