[Motherboards & CPU] Can i use a 1333 CPU on a 1066 Mainboard?

[glockshna]

Hi all

I'm sporting a 3 year old Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2 Extreme Series mainboard (2 or 3 years not exactly sure)
Anyway, according to the manual my mainboard can support a LGA775 with a 1066/800 MHz FSB. I currently have a Intel Core 2 Duo 4300 1.8ghz processor. I'm looking to upgrade to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz Quad-Core Processor seen here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115207

According to the specs on the processor it uses a 1333 MHz FSB. My mainboard only supports 1066 MHz. My question is will this processor work at all on my mainboard? If it does what's the drawback? Can is damage my mainboard or other hardware?

My second question:

On the other side, I could get this Intel Pentium E6600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz Dual Core processor for $50 less.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116347

which my motherboard fully supports. Would this be a better choice assuming the price isn't an issue. I'm looking for pure performance in this buy.


And last but not least, does the L2 Cache matter in terms of compatibility?

Thanks for the help in advance

 

[saaiello]

The Q8300 yorkfield will not work the only quads that will work is the Q6xxx which you will only find used but they do go for around $100 and are fairly good processors and will be a giant leap in performance compared to the 4300.

The E6600 wolfdale will not work the older E6600 conroes will. The wolfdales are 45nm and your board will not support it.

The L2 cache means nothing in the compatibility aspect.

No 1333mhz processor will work in that board nor will 45 nm processors work.

If you notice on there support page the E6600 listed is the 2.4ghz model which is the old core 2 duo conroe.

http://processormatch.intel.com/COMPDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=d975xbx2

So my suggestion is get the Q6600 off ebay or get a new board and move into an I5 or I7

 

[glockshna]

Best answer selected by glockshna.

 

[glockshna]

Hmm, I was trying to avoid a rebuild. If i get a new motherboard and upgrade to the i7
(I would only go to the i7 if i did an upgrade like that) i might as well just rebuild.

The Q6600 seems like the best option for me, but I'm a bit nervous about buying a used processor.
Thanks for the help