CPU displays something else.

[mudshovel2]

I upgraded my compaq pressario with a 3200 Amd athlon XP processor from a 1700. However.... the computer seems to run a little faster but in My Computer properties it still says it running the 1700 (1.47 ghz) that was in it before. I tried updating the driver searching the internet and no driver updates could be found. A little confused about it.

JJ

[ronallandottk]

Off the bat I'd say your Compaq's motherboard's BIOS doesn't support the Athlon XP 3200+.

First of all, it is worth noting that a 3200+ isn't just a faster clocked version of the 1700+.

Here are the differences:

1700+ - 1.46 GHz, 133 MHz FSB (266 MHz effective), 11x multiplier, 256 KB L2 Cache

3200+ - 2.2 GHz, 200 MHz FSB (400 MHz effective), 11x multiplier, 512 KB L2 Cache

(FSB - Front side bus)

There's also a 2.33 GHz, 166 MHz FSB, 14x multiplier 3200+ but that doesn't seem relevant, you probably have the 200 MHz FSB version above.

What's happening in your case is that your motherboard is still running with a 133 MHz FSB. Both the 3200+ and the 1700+ run with an 11x multiplier, hence your getting the same 1.46 GHz speed (11x133 MHz=1.463 GHz). The L2 cache is doubled, so you get a little extra performance from that. What you want is for the FSB to run at 200 (11x200=2.2 GHz), though that may not be possible, depending on your board.

Try to look for a BIOS update for your motherboard, most of the time that's all it takes for it to recognize the newer and faster CPU. You can also check the BIOS if there are settings from setting the FSB. However, if you have an older computer, you may have one of those older motherboards with older chipsets which only support a maximum FSB of 266 MHz, in such case, you're out of luck and stuck at 1.46 GHz.

If you really want to make the most of your 3200+, and it is not officially supported by your motherboard, you can try overclocking the FSB and/or multiplier, but I wouldn't recommend that you do so if you don't know what you're doing.

Also note that most PCs with 1700+ Athlons use DDR266 memory. An Athlon XP 3200+ needs DDR400 memory to do it's thing. If you've had your PC for a number of years now, it probably has the slower (266) RAM, which isn't probably an ideal match with a 3200+.

By the way, I have an older PC which I still use, which only has a maximum FSB of 133 MHz. The fastest CPUs I can use on it is the 266 MHz version of the 2600+, which is a bit rare. It has a 2400+ installed.