CPU upgrade for ASUS P3B-F

[Dr Mordrid]

Ok boys...joketime over. Lets not let this deteriorate into what's happening on the unofficial RT-2000 forum

Now THAT's a mess....

Dr. Mordrid

[matroxg200]

Ok, perhaps this is not the right forum, but the question has been asked here and I suppose I gotta give my 0.02$ here, if someone feels it's worth moving it elsewhere, please do so

There is a "new" beta p3b-f bios on asus's ftp site.
It's version 1.07 beta1 and it's available here:

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/beta/mb/bios/p3bf1071.zip

Be careful that it is a BETA version so use it only if you feel like taking the risk to install a beta bios.
I didn't try it because 1.06 works fine for me.
I've no idea of what's new in this beta either because there is no text file in the zip archive, only the bios file.

[Dr Mordrid]

YUP.....those betas can sting you if you're not careful.

I've been looking for an explanation of what's in there myself. If anyone trips over it please post it here.

Dr. Mordrid

[xortam]

I just upgraded my processor on my P2B-S R1.03 from a Abit SlotKET!!!'ed P!!!/850 FSB 100 to a slot 1 P!!!/1 GHz FSB 100. My friend wasn't able to get the Slot 1 Gigger working in his P2B-LS R1.03 but I was able to goose up the voltage with the slocket and got the 850 to work on his system. I got a free swap for the Gigger for my efforts. I keep getting system freezes but I suspect it has something to do with IE: I did a security update at the same time and it only freezes when working with IE ... tried upgrading to IE 6 Beta but no improvement. I ran Prime95 on the Gigger for hours and the system will stay up 12+ hours (until I run IE) but I can't be positive that the processor isn't to blame for the lockups. The extra processing power definitely made Q3A run smoother on my Max but I haven't run it through any productive CPU crunching yet.

[dchip]

I am uncovering problems with my anticipated 1Ghz upgrade and have scaled back to just ordering the FCPGA 850Mhz 100mhz FSB Socket 370 with the adapter piece.

It turns out my Asus P3B-F is one of the earliest ones made and has known issues with being able to get the voltage correct for the 1Ghz slot 1 SECC2 and there is no 1Ghz Socket 370 100Mhz to be found anywhere. 850Mhz will have to do it. Strange things these motherboards. It's all about when they were manufactured. A diode here, a capacitor there makes all the difference, I guess. If I had been thinking ahead I would have purchased another P3B-F about a year after they were introduced. I would have one of the easily upgradable ones had I done that. Oh well.

[Dr Mordrid]

I ran into that with an early BH6 a while back. Fortunately the difference was a small diode that I had in my box

Dr. Mordrid

[moreau]

The P3B-F can also be made stable upto 150.
I personally prefer 133, as it keeps the FSB in spec. So long as your AGP card are happy at the elevated AGP bus clock, all is good. For me, both my Matrox G400 and Asus V7700 GeForce2 Ultra (?) have had no problems.

Just make sure your memory is good.

BTW... this is a question I would like us to find a definitive answer to...

It is my recollection that the PIII CuMine CPU's are still using aluminum interconnects. There is a rumor that when Intel releases the Tualatin CPU's (PIII "D" stepping), they will use a 0.13micron process and copper interconnects.

Respectfully,
Charles

[Dr Mordrid]

It was my understanding that COPPERmine referred to CPU's that used copper interconnects.

Dr. Mordrid

[DJ]

That is not correct Doc. Intel was just cleverly using words here. Its still aluminum interconnects.

DJ

[Dave Lawton]

I have just managed to purchased a P3B-f via ebay auction and was pondering over which processor to get. It seems socket 370 are more abundant but need a slocket convertor but I am a little confused about them.

This is what Overclockers UK had to say about the ASUS Slocket convertor:
>
> ASUS S370-DL Slot Adapter
> The ASUS S370-DL CPU card allows Slot 1 motherboards to accept socket 370
> processors with Front Side Bus running at up to 133MHz. The S370-DL CPU
> card supports single Coppermine / Celeron and dual Coppermine / Celeron
> (PPGA only) processors to give Slot1 motherboard owners an inexpensive
way
> to upgrade their Pentium® II/III computers using lower costing socket 370
> processors.
>
> I think the important bit is 'PPGA' I think this is different to FC-PGA
> (flip) chips so will not work.
>

Are there two types of Slockets for PPGA and PCPGA chips

Dave

[Dave Lawton]

Sorry I should have typed

Are there two types of Slockets for PPGA and FCPGA chips

Dave

[Dave Lawton]

Sorry I should have typed

Are there two types of Slockets for PPGA and FCPGA chips

Dave

[dchip]

Dave, the only one I have seen is the ASUS S370-DL, but I think there are other ones that do the same thing. In addition to allowing you to set the voltage for the CPU, these supposedly allow the chip to run a tad cooler because of placement.

I am not very brave when it comes to out-of-spec operation of any computer hardware but I did manage to wade through the maze that is the Asus website and put a post on one of the forums and got a response back from another user who said many people are running their P3B-F's at 133Mhz and doing just fine. The upgrade I will make will be from P-III 450 to P-III 850 Socket 370 using the ASUS S370-DL.

As far as your chip choices; if you have a later revision P3B-F you can supposedly go up to a 1Ghz P-III without the slot adapter and the latest bios will allow the proper voltage setting, which I think is 1.6. I searched for a Socket 370 P-III 1Ghz CPU but cannot locate one. I would be much more confident about putting a 1Ghz onto that board if I knew that adapter could guarantee me nice stable voltage. I still think putting those red hot chips, 600Mhz or above, directly into the slot one on the boards, which were originally designed to max out at 600Mhz or so, is kind of a roll of the dice. Of course, ASUS has continued to update the bios to support faster and faster chippies, so I would guess they have tested it.

Since there were so many revisions of the P3B-F in the last couple of years, what would be nice is if ASUS would provide a quick way to identify exactly which revision you have. I identified mine as one of the original ones by looking at the hard coded revision setting that pops up on the bios screen. Supposedly boards releases 1.03 or later allow the greatest flexibility for upgrading.

By the way, congrats on getting a P3B-F. Used properly, they are definately user-friendly and stable boards. If you put a P-III Slot 1 into it, I strongly suggest that you confirm the board is set for jumperless set up and then go into the bios the first time you boot up and make all the voltage and boot sequence settings and stuff yourself. Unless you like tinkering with jumpers, that jumperless-configuring can't be beat.

[Dr Mordrid]

Asus makes an FC-PGA/Coppermine compatable slotkey called the Smart Slot 1. The model number on mine is S370-DL rev. 1.02.

The tag also has this sequence: S370-DL/ASUS CPU CARD - UAN

This card is also compatable with a 133mhz FSB.

It's VCore can be set either manually or automatically, depending on how a jumper is set on it. Setting it to manual activates the rest of the jumper pack.

Dr. Mordrid

[Dave Lawton]

Thanks for the information, I've got the
S370-DL/ASUS CPU CARD - UAN rev. 1.02

I was going for a PIII 850 CUMine so guess I've got the correct convertor for a FC-PGA chip.

I see I should upgrade to BIOS 1006,
Don't know what BIOS rev I've got as I've not tried it yet as I've not bought a processor but will the PIII 850 work, all be it at a lower spec, with an earlier BIOS

Dave