CPU upgrade

[ibanez37]

right now, i have a pentium III 550 slot 1 CPU. i want to uprade to something fairly faster for fairly cheap. what im wondering is what is the fastest cpu i can get that is compatible with my mobo for the cheapest price. if not p3, than what is a good route for p4/mobo?

Specs on my mobo:

Intel 440BX PCIset
82443BX PMC (492 mBGA)
82371EB PIIX4e (324 mBGA)

System Memory
100MHz Memory Bus Speed (FSB)
Three 64bit or 72bit (ECC) 4-clock, 3.3V, unbuffered SDRAM DIMMs
Expandable to 384MB of SDRAM (CAS latency of 2) using 64Mbit chips
DIMMs must adhere to the Intel 4-clock 100MHz 64-bit unbuffered SDRAM DIMM specification, latest revision
Uses gold-plated DIMM socket
ECC signal and multiple bit detection (single bit correction) supported, using ECC DIMMs, can be enabled and disable in BIOS

HDD Interface
Internal to core logic (PIIX4)
Supports up to four IDE devices
Uses two shrouded IDE connectors
Dual independent channel support for Fast IDE (PIO) mode 3, mode 4, and ATAPI compatible CD-ROM drives
Support for DMA modes 1, 2 (bus mastering), and Ultra-DMA33 on both channels Bus Mastering supported on both channels

I/O
SMC FDC37C707 Ultra I/O with BIOS code base to match BIOS, which supports two serial and one parallel port, single FDD, keyboard, mouse, RTC, and IR
I/O connectors to include:
Stacked PS/2 style mouse (top) and keyboard (bottom)
Stacked DB25 connector for parallel port and two DB9 serial ports

USB Interface
USB controller integrated into PIIX4
Two USB ports (one rear panel stacked connector), another USB header on board (a jumper must be used to enable/disable this header, when enabled the lower stacked USB connector will be disabled)
Stacked USB connectors

Battery
Socketed Lithium coin cell 3V (~5 year life) and external battery connector

Speaker
On board piezo speaker
Speaker header for off board speaker (part of front panel header)

BIOS
Intel/Phoenix code base
4 Mbit flash support (TSOP)
Pentium III processor detection and initialization
Memory auto-configure and ECC support
AGP set initialization module
Autodetect keyboard, mouse, floppy, IDE, serial, and parallel devices
CD-ROM boot
Password secured boot
User and administrator mode for system Setup screens with two separate password protected accesses
Supports NON-volatile storage in BIOS flash
PCI Configuration space and DMI support
USB support with support for Legacy input devices
Audio disable support in BIOS
Supports bootable LS-120
Ultra DMA/33 support
ATAPI support for IDE CD-ROM and tape drives
Int 13h extensions to support drives larger than 2GB
AC power loss state retention management

Power Management
Motherboard and BIOS must support the On-now Initiative (Soft power off)
Motherboard must allow BIOS control (on/off) of Power Supply fan
Motherboard must allow BIOS control (on/off) of Processor Fan sink
Motherboard must allow BIOS control of Dual Mode LED (Full-On/Suspend)
Legacy APM 1.2 Power Management support of on-board peripherals
Power-On Switch must support Soft-Off (Touch for one second or less puts the system in Suspend mode. Touch and hold for four seconds puts the system in the Full-Off state, where Full-Off has all power removed except Power Supply 5V Standby).
Support for WOL
Energy Star Compliant
SMM, VESA monitor specifications
Power down of ATAPI green enabled devices
Standard 20 pin power header provides standby current used to maintain CMOS real time clock

PCI/AGP/ISA slots
Six total slots:
Four PCI, one AGP, one shared (PCI/ISA)
All PCI slots are masters, rev 2.1
All slots support full length cards

Manufacturing
Surface mount technology, single sided assembly
Four layer PCB

Form Factor
ATX form factor (12.9" x 9.6") - has existing BAT/AT plus three new holes (10 holes total)
ATX 2x10 power supply connector - includes 3.3V and PS-ON

Front Panel
2x8 front panel header:
Supporting Soft-off power switch
Sleep switch
IR interface
HD LED
Dual Mode (two color: green and yellow) Power LED (also called Sleep LED)
Reset Switch
Speaker
Multiple 3-pin auxiliary fan connectors
Stuffable Custom (1x26) header to match current configurations

Cases
Can be assembled in all cases:
New Look Desktop
New Look Mini Tower
ATX Tower
Hercules Full Tower

Power Supplies
Can be assembled with the following power supplies:
200 Watt New Look w/ ~720mA PS standby current
Must have standard ATX 20-pin power connector
Soft-off support

thats off of gateway site lol
heres the specs on my comp

Pentium III 550 mhz, 100mhz FSB
256 MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS
9.7 gig HD
48x CD-ROM

thx for any help you can provide

[mattg2k4]

A general rule of thumb is don't upgrade the cpu unless it pretty much doubles the existing clock speed. That would mean about I 1Ghz for you.

However, if its a gateway, make sure that it will support the upgrade, because sometimes retail computers don't upgrade too well, especially for things like a processor.

[ibanez37]

yea i was thinking about a 1.4 but p3's get up in the $200's so i was thinking of goin p4 1.4-2.0...but i dunno what kind of mobo i would get...ne suggestions?

[Kubie]

ibanez37,

One option would be the Asus P4s533 with a P4 1.8a. O/c's to 2.4 easily and the cpu is cheaper.

Carl

[Andrewxcav]

yeah the p4's with the 100mhz fsb can be easily oced by making the fsb 133

[Jade]

Originally posted by Kubie ibanez37, One option would be the Asus P4s533 with a P4 1.8a. O/c's to 2.4 easily and the cpu is cheaper. Carl

Will he also need Rdram or DDR ram with that?

[Kubie]

Jade,

I'm using DDR ram with mine.

Carl

[Kubie]

andrewxcav,

yeah the p4's with the 100mhz fsb can be easily oced by making the fsb 133

P4 1.8a 400mz fsb

P4S533 533/400mhz fsb

@30C

Carl

[glc]

In order to determine if your motherboard supports *any* processor upgrades, you will have to contact Gateway with your exact system serial number. It's not very likely that it can. You are looking at a new motherboard, processor, and ram - and a new case wouldn't be a bad idea because of the small Gateway power supply and the proprietary front panel connector.