Was wondering since im still busting an old A socket mobo whats the highest/most powerful real speed processor I can possibly purchase for it?

also I was thinking about quietening my computer as I use it to watch movies and listen to music and i have a lot of background noise from the fans....Is it the processor fan or the psu fan that makes the most noise? Any recommendation for super quiet hardware for either? How quiet am I likely to get it?

Cheers

Spec:
1.8Ghz AMD A socket
1024MB RAM PC2100
NVIDIA 7300GT 256
300GB HD
ASROCK 8xAGP

The fastest CPU for a socket A motherboard is an Athlon XP 3200+. However I would recommend the Athlon XP 3000+ since it runs much cooler than the 3200+. You might also want to consider purchasing an Athlon XP 2500+ and overclocking it to 3200+ speeds (which it should be able to do easily).

In order to make your computer more quite you must consider two things in particular; RPM and Fan Size. The lower the RPM the less airflow but offers less noise. A bigger fan offers better airflow at lower RPM. Therefore, a quick way to lower the amount noise is by replacing your small fans with larger ones (note that often a case only accepts a particular size of fans). If thats the case run a temperature monitor and see what your CPU temps are like. Accordingly lower the CPU fan RPM settings in the BIOS and your good to go.

Chances are your case and CPU fans make more noise than your power supply fan.

Ahh ok thanks for all your advice! I actually have a 2500+ in there right now, but the only thing is I manually changed the settings in the bios to achieve 2500+, but I only did this because I thought that the processor was a 2500+ and that the bios setting were wrong...but I cant be sure...how can I find out what the actual original speed of my processor is because if im already pushing it up now I wont be able to get away with pushing it even further to 3000+ settings?? Thanks!!

Can I find out the true power of my processor using a pice of software rather than opening it up? (im lazy )

To see what your current settings of your CPU, use CPU-Z. The link is below.

http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz_145.zip

Go to the link below too see the settings of other "barton" Athlon XP CPU's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Athlon_XP_microprocessors

Brendan Gonsalves said:
Just stay away from Thoroughbred cores. They run extremely hot and as such, need some very hefty cooling to tame (if even possible) them. Barton cores can be cooled without too much trouble but beware, they are hard to find.

I liked that how Socket A would often show you the AMD equivalent when you would overclock.

And Barton for sure. Those were the last of the Athlon XP's I believe. I still have a 2800+ Barton around here somewhere, what a sexy little CPU.

If you've got the budget, you could probably use a mobo+CPU upgrade. Socket A is... dead... sorry to say. I see you have an AGP card, though, so that kinda limits your choices.

Just throwing ideas out there.

i have a zalman heatsink and fan for socket a - if anyone wants it - its complete apart from the fan controller pm or email me if you want it - [ just pay the postage !]

zalman , copper heatsink and fan , with athlon xp 2000 now on its way to new home in york -