FIC VA 503+ version E:2900 vs. E:4503

[RAB]

I was thinking of upgrading my AMD K6-2 350 to a K6-3 450 but upon visiting the FIC website, they say that the K6-3's are only supported on the E:4503 version of the 503+. My board is an E:2900 circa Sept 98. My question is "what's the difference?" I can update the bios to v.1536, but is this enough to make the K6-3 work? Will the Silent Serpent make it K6-3 compatible? Sorry to bother you guys, but the FIC site only says that the E:4503 is the only certified board - it doesn't even hint at why. Anybody have any info on the difference and why one is certified and the older one is not?

RAB

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FIC503+1.2a,bios115je33;AMD K6-2/350;128MB PC100;Myst G200,bios2.3,drivers4.26;Win98;no OC

[M Ragsdale]

Hi RAB,

This is what FIC told me when I asked them. "The earlier 503+ boards do not supply enough current through the board to support the extra draw for the K6III 450, However, we have had success running the board with the processor, but not with a lot of peripherals attatched inside, and as always your results may vary."

I have personally tried a K6III on my board ver. 1.0 a and had no problems whatsoever running it, hell I even got the 400 to do 500 without a voltage change. I do have a friend with a board identical to mine, who needed to bump the voltage up .2v to get the processor to run stably at its rated speed, and could not overclock it at all. What is ironic about this, is he cannot get my G200 to do 2X on his board (his V550 won't do it, either), so I think there is some relation.

Matt

[RAB]

Thanks Matt, that sounds like a good excuse from FIC. I've got a 200 watt PS and the standard HD, floppy, CD ROM, sound card, modem and network card. That doesn't sound like it should be a problem.

Anyone else have any hints on making a K6-3 work? Anyone have experience with Silent Serpent and the K6-3's?

RAB