1600MHz FSB Penryn on 1333MHz FSB Motherboard

[farfromhome]

If I get a 1600MHz FSB Penryn in the future, is all I need to do get a BIOS update and set my FSB to 1600MHz (aka 400MHz in the BIOS)? Or will it be more involved than that? And is it guaranteed to work if the motherboard supports the FSB frequency (as I'd think almost every P35 would, including my P35C-DS3R)?

(Thanks to Anand's review of the QX9770 for inspiration for this question)

 

[SliWolf]

Look here, it also depends on how fast Gigabyte is able to put the new bios out for your mobo.

 

[chrisf6969]

Most 1066 motherboards did 1333 easily with just a BIOS update. Like with the 965/975 boards, and that was a 25% increase.

With the P35 / X38 motherboards that were designed for 1333FSB, they SHOULD handle a 1600FSB as its only a 20% increase, BUT I think 1600FSB is a lot closer to the upper limits of the chips (both CPU & northbridge)

So all of them might not make the cut, at least not 100% stable, as some of the reviews hinted at stability problems, some from heat problems, some from requiring extra voltage to the CPU, chipset or MCH, etc/

 

[rhagz]

I know my P35-DS3L can handle overclocking to 400FSB and beyond with ease. Can't wait for the Penryns!

 

[farfromhome]

Thanks for the responses so far, but they don't fully answer my question. Namely, is updating the BIOS and overclocking the FSB all that's required? Is there anything else one has to do to use the new processors? Or is it really just that simple?

 

[lordsegan]

Thanks for the responses so far, but they don't fully answer my question. Namely, is updating the BIOS and overclocking the FSB all that's required? Is there anything else one has to do to use the new processors? Or is it really just that simple?

It depends. I think most people don't really know how well the chipset will support the CPUs. Worst case, you can underclock the FSB and you won't get tooo big of a performance hit. (Really, its probably only a few percent).