РЕДЧАЙШИЙ В МИРЕ ПРОЦЕССОР НА 478 СОКЕТ / SL7QB

Tech concept / product being reviewed

• Rare Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott) on Socket 478 (SL7QB)
  • Notable for supporting 64-bit EM64T, which was uncommon among mainstream 478-era CPUs.
  • The speaker stresses extreme rarity: reportedly only ~1,000 such 478 server/desktop processors with EM64T were produced worldwide.
  • Primary aim: demonstrate that a 64-bit OS and a modern, heavy workload (GTA V) can run on Socket 478 using this CPU.

Key goals of the build (“torture test”)

1. Install and run Windows 7 x64 (SP1) on a Socket 478 system using the SL7QB.
2. Launch and play GTA V on the same Socket 478 platform, with very high expectations for performance.

Hardware platform used (motherboard + memory + GPU)

• Motherboard: Biostar (late-era board)

  • Socket 478 support
  • DDR2
  • PCI Express
  • Chipset referenced as 775 G31
  • Described as “late” (2006–2007), designed for newer peripherals (PCIe, DDR2) while still supporting Socket 478.

• RAM compatibility handling

  • Board was very picky about memory compatibility.
  • Needed specific DDR2 modules to enable full dual-channel capacity.
  • Some 2GB sticks were initially misreported as 1GB until correct modules were found.
  • End state: system detected 4GB.

• GPU

  • NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB (PCIe)
  • The speaker notes the motherboard likely runs PCIe at lower mode (possibly PCIe 1.x).

Compatibility / firmware constraints encountered

• CPU power / VRM limit issue

  • The motherboard enforced a 95W limit, while the SL7QB is 105W.
  • No straightforward BIOS setting to bypass the restriction (unlike some other brands).
  • Workaround: press F10 during boot to ignore the warning.

• BIOS microcode / CPU detection limits

  • SL7QB is not detected on many Socket 478 boards due to missing late microcodes.
  • The chosen Biostar board was expected to work out of the box because its BIOS/microcode was likely late enough.

64-bit OS install results

• Windows 7 x64 SP1

  • Successfully installed and booted.

• Subsystem/boot notes

  • Subtitles mention a “64-bit bootloader”, implying a correct x64 boot sequence.
  • CPU recognized as Pentium 4, 1 core / 2 threads.

• Verification tools

  • CPU-Z confirmed EM64T (x64) support.
  • OS confirms 64-bit Windows and shows ~3.3GB available out of 4GB installed (typical usable memory reporting).

Benchmarks / performance measurements (CPU)

• Results from the referenced benchmarking utility:
  • ~75 single-thread
  • ~142 multi-thread
• Overall conclusion: 64-bit works, but performance is extremely low due to the CPU being an old single-core/Hyper-Threading Pentium 4.

GTA V results (the main “proof”)

Launch and early behavior

• Initial launch succeeded, but early scenes were around ~1 FPS in menu/certain conditions.
• A later configuration/preset adjustment improved behavior, though it remained very slow.

Main gameplay observations

• Often barely playable under severe settings:
  • Commonly around ~9–15 FPS in constrained/rail-like segments.
• In complex city scenes:
  • FPS reportedly fell to ~6 FPS with heavy NPC/animation load.

Troubles and tuning

• Concern about overheating / burning smell, likely tied to heavy load on the motherboard/VRM.
• Testing and tuning included:
  • Trying DirectX 10
  • Lowering/adjusting graphics features (e.g., disabling reflections)
  • Target resolution around 1280×1024
• External storage detail:
  • Used an external USB 2.0 drive
  • The speaker claims the bottleneck was CPU/processor time, not USB/drive speed.

Measurement overhead

• Using MSI Afterburner / RivaTuner overlay reportedly consumed ~20–30% CPU time on this single-core system.
• Recommendation: use tools like Fraps to reduce measurement interference.

“Part 2” roadmap (future guide/experiment direction)

Planned next tests include:

• Install Windows 8 Professional x64 (64-bit) on the same platform.
• Use a more optimized/simplified GTA V setup
  • Find/configure a GTA V version with reduced content (referred to as needing a “Potato mod” / heavily simplified build).
• Target outcome for city performance:
  • Expect/aim for ~20–24 FPS with heavily simplified settings/mods and a different OS.

Main speakers / sources

• Single main speaker / creator: the YouTube host performing and documenting the SL7QB Socket 478 build and tests.
• Source mentioned: Seller Mikhail (Avito) supplied the SL7QB processor (priced at 25,000 rubles).