I am thinking about upgrading XP 3200 400FSB in my Asus A7V333. The cpu of 333 costs more expersive than 400. Why? Does XP 3200 (400FSB) work with the motherboard 333FSB? Thanks! Jack HL

If it did work, you still would be operating at 333 MHz not 400. What that means is you would see no difference, so why would you want to? If you want to upgrade to a 400 MHz cpu, I would suggest getting a new mobo too. We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery

TigerDirect has the OEM Sempron 3000+ on sale for $59 after rebate. It's based on the Barton core, runs at 166MHz (333FSB) & is the equivilent of an Athlon XP 2800+ Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit Gamer Edition WinME/WinXP Pro

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1160591 Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit Gamer Edition WinME/WinXP Pro

Sempron? let's compare a Sempron 3000+ with an Athlon XP 3000+... which one is faster and has a large L1 cache? what is the difference? Jack

You can't compare a Sempron 3000+ to an Athlon XP 3000+, but if you look into the specs of the 3000+ Sempron, you'll find it has 512k L2 cache, it's based on the Barton core, & it runs at 2000MHz (12 x 166MHz). It's basically the same as an Athlon XP 2800+, only it's clocked slightly different http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104217#DetailSpecs Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit Gamer Edition WinME/WinXP Pro

The Sempron and the Barton are not the same! They're not clocked differently! I don't even think they have the same core. I do know that they have different amounts of cache. Stay away from the Socket A Sempron! They're made to compete with Intel's Celeron (which are crap) and marketed accordingly. The Barton blows the Sempron away. If you are a gamer get the Barton. If you're not a gamer, then why even upgrade? I would get the Barton no matter what. I looked at the ASUS website today (http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=A7V333) and it appears that they only support up to the Barton 3000. It shows no support for the Sempron. I would email ASUS first and find out what if they even do support the Barton 3200 and/or Sempron's. Don't worry about the 400MHz bus. Yes, you can only run your RAM at 333MHz bus, but it's not a big deal. You would be wasting your time and money looking for a 333 MHz CPU. You'd be buying an older AMD (Thoroughbred, Thorton or Palomino core), which is going to be a lot slower no matter what. Your RAM is probably only PC2700, which is 333MHz to begin with. For your own sake, you should find out what kind of RAM you are running. I still run PC2700, it's not that big of a deal. For myself, I am upgrading to the fastest Barton the A7V333 can accept and then overclocking it. That will be the last for this motherboard as a gaming platform. Then it will be time for a full upgrade. There are too many new technologies to keep this board as a gaming board. I will upgrade in about a year. The new BTX motherboard form factor will be out (is it out yet?), PCI Express will be in full swing and SATA hard drives are already the norm. 64-bit processors and Windows Longhorn (64-bit OS) will be out. Plus of course you'll get onboard LAN and better onboard sound. It will basically be a brand new system. All of my hardware will not be supported on a new motherboard. My Radeon 9700 is AGP, my hard drives are IDE, my motherboard, power supply and case are are all ATX. My Soundcard, Wireless LAN and Ethernet are all PCI. See where I am going? Yup, get ready for a full system upgrade once BTX is the norm and affordable my friend. Until then keep this old horse running and don't drop a dime until prices come down. If you buy anything, it should only be a killer CPU fan to overclock the CPU and get a few more months of higher performance... lol If you have any questions, please email me. More than happy to help. Check www.pcguide.com if you really want to learn your hardware. Later