Using FCPGA-CUMines on ASUS P2B-F

[Alegria]

Although ASUS support states that only certain models of the ASUS P2B-F series support CPUs above 600+ MHZ in their compatibility list (A01, A53 etc.) I gave it a try with my A56 mobo. The CPU upgrade worked flawlessly and still is running stable with an MSI 6905 CPU converter. CPU Core Voltage of 1.65V is provided properly by the board.
I tried several benchmarks including 3DMark2000 V1.1 in an all-night-long session without even one crash under W2K and W98 which makes me come to the conclusion that there is no issue on my machine.
It has all kinds of peripherals attached to it including power-consuming USB devices.
My configuration actually is:

PIII 800MHz FCPGA on MSI-6905 Slot converter
640 MB (2x256, 1x128)PC100 SDRAM
G400SH 32MB
AHA2940UW primary SCSI
AHA2940 secondary SCSI
18GB Seagate Cheetah
2x Quantum VikingII 4.3 GB
Ultraplex 40Max
TEAC 56S
HP-DAT 12-24 external
IOMEGA JAZ 1GB external
ZIP 100MB parallel
SBLive 1024
Hauppauge WinTV
3COM905B-TX NIC
ISDN Card AVM
Philips VestaPro 680 USB Camera
Canon FB630U USB Scanner

and it is running at default FSB settings
(100MHz).

Considering the fact that a completely new machine would have given me only new trouble getting all this to work again I think it was worth the try.
So if you are looking forward to an upgrade and you own one of these boards (A56), give it a try before you buy a new mobo.

Regards, Alegria

[xortam]

I was unable to locate the MSI 6905 converter when I went to the MSI websites (Taiwan and US). I would like to upgrade my PIII/450 running on my P2B-S v1.03. I would like to find a slocket that would let the CPU run at speced voltage. Additionally, I would like the slocket to run at increased voltages if I decide to attempt O/Cing but I don't know that my RAM can handle FSB above 100 MHz; its a 128 MB module running at CAS2, but I'd have to inspect the memory to determine the manufacturer. I also will probably pick up some more memory soon. Any suggestions?

[Maggi]

Excellent !

... and welcome to the club ...

I also have an old Asus board (P2B-S rev 1.02) and almost believed what Asus claims on their compatibilty list, but fortunately I ignored it and gave it a try.

Now my system hosts a Celeron 566 @ 952MHz, running at 1.85 VCore.

Cheers,
Maggi

[ayoub_ibrahim]

well done,Alegria! with the P2Bxx series boards,checking the markings on the voltage regulator will give you the best idea if it will support the coppermine default voltage.
IC Vcore range
> HIP6004ACB 1.80V to 3.50V
> HIP6004BCB 1.30V to 3.50V
> HIP6019CB 1.80V to 3.50V
> HIP6019BCB 1.30V to 3.50V

[Maggi]

Hi Xortam,

as I posted several times .. I use the Abit SlotKET!!! (no emphasize, but the used !!! as name for their 3rd revision ...)

It lets you fiddle VCore in 0.05V steps.

For testing your RAM I'd recommend Soft FSB from www.h-oda.com, dead eays to use once you found the proper MoBo setting (P2B-xx should do it in your case).

Lemme know if you need further assist.

Cheers,
Maggi

[xortam]

Sorry Maggi!!! ... I thought you always mentioned that you had to run the Coppermines at above spec voltage on my MB. I wasn't aware that the Abit had a SlotKET that could regulate the voltage to the correct level (knew these were coming). I think I may be able to find that one in the local stores. Are all Type 3 Slockets able to regulate voltage? Do you know if ASUS has or is about to release a voltage regulator slocket? Re: SoftFSB ... I've seen it mentioned many times here but I wasn't aware it did anything beyond setting the FSB speed. I'll download it and check it out (web site doesn't have any info).

[dZeus]

I don;t think it does... Actually, as far as I know, there are no slot covertors on the market that have voltage regulation.

So the slotkets with voltage jumpers only are of use if you want to overclock your cpu by raising the voltage.

[Maggi]

The SlotKET!!! from Abit offers various VCore settings and I had to raise it to 1.75 in order to make it POST on my old MoBo. Below that, my screen just stayed black and I didn't even hear a single beep or something (Asus P2B-S rev 1.02 that is).

Afaik, the latest ASUS slotket offers also various VCore settings and a friend of mine uses it to run a Celeron2 in his old Asus P2B rev 1.10 (has to be 1.12 according to Asus for supporting Coppermines/Celeron2).

In general it seems that raising the VCore increases stability on OCed CPUs, thus I'm now settled at 112MHz FSB, running my Cel566@952MHZ at 1.85VCore.
Btw, the MoBo detects the VCore that is provided by the slotket, unless you set the slotket to default VCore. The latter causes the CPU to determine its VCore.

About SoftFSB ... errm, that's what I meant ... raísing your FSB to find out whether your RAM runs fine at higher speeds without having to fiddle with jumpers while finding the peak, i.e. you increase your FSB, run a couple of intense tests and if it's stable you can make it permanent through your MoBo jumpers.

Hope it's a bit clearer now ...

Cheers,
Maggi