Another weird question: low CPU frequency limit in Slot 1 mainboard, or out of date tech docs?

[baynism]

Hello again. Thanks once more to everyone who helped me with my sound card search. I genuinely appreciate it, and so does my girlfriend.

That episode got me really interested in upgrading old Slot 1 systems as much as possible, and to that end I just found an N440BX dual Slot 1 PIII board really cheap. It's fun. It's become my new hobby to tinker with old PCs now I guess lol.

Anyway, in the process of looking for Slot 1 processors, it occured to me that I could get one really cheap for my girlfriend (the one who needed a DX 9 compliant sound card from before) so she could have atleast some improvement over her current archaic system. I looked into the specs of her board (ironicaly, also a 440BX based board) and according to the Gateway documentation (it's a proprietary Gateway board based on the i440BX chipset) it can only be upgraded to a Slot 1 PIII 450.

Now, that may be true, but I thought it was worth asking if anyone knows whether that's genuinely correct or not. I mean, I see dozens of other Gateway boards using the same chipset, the same BIOS and BIOS revision, and with almost no difference in functionality. Most, if not all of them, indicate they can go all the way up to the Slot 1 PIII 850!

So, my question is, is it likely that their documentation is just old, or is there a real limit here I should worry about? Also, while I'm at it, does anyone also have any clue as to whether or not the N440BX dualy is really limited to the P III 600 as well? (Some models say 550, and some say 600).

I'm guessing alot of this is just because some PCBs came boxed with newer BIOS revisions, and the online documentation never updated the older models with them. I could be wrong though. What do you think?

 

[LiLithTecH]

You are correct in your assumptions that the online data is outdated.

The N440BX chipset supported up to a P3-850 with an updated BIOS.
Most vendors did provide an update, but not all functioned properly.

Gateway used Tyan and Intel P3 boards (most likely an Intel Nightshade Server)
so it should be do-able.

If you could find one, the P3-1.13GHz Tualatin with a Slot 1 adapter (made by PowerLeap) works great.

 

[Alaska]

The data may be correct.

I had several BX systems at work that topped out at 450 MHz on a Rev 1.0 board, even though they had jumpers that should allow up to 800 MHz. According to the manufacturer a Rev. 1.2 board was required to use a processor more than 450 MHz.

I tried it with a 650 MHz and couldn't get it to work and fried a 650 MHz processor in the process.

 

[baynism]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. It's not the N440BX board that she has, that's just my dualy board. Her's is a slightly different iteration of the same chipset - an i440BX PCIset. (There was an AGPset too, and that's the only one still listed on Intel's site, though updated support for it has been discontinued).

I just asked because I figured upgrading by 50MHz would be a bit pointless. Then again, there's no harm in maxing it out right?

 

[WT]

I've used several Gateway WS440BX boards (Gateway Jabil internal designation) which were Intel boards. They were stable as anything I have EVER had and I could run all the way up to a P3 1ghz 100fsb FC-PGA in a slotket. The microcode was in place and reported it as a P3 1000. I picked up three of those boards and for $30 apiece they were flawless in operation.

 

[baynism]

Hmm... that's exactly what is, a Jabil/Tabor 2 board.

So it ought to work? I'd prefer not to go the slocket route upon further research (not saying they don't work, I just don't want to risk paying that much more) but I can get a slot 1 PIII 700 for only 40 dollars, and an 850 for 90 or 100. Should I risk it?.

 

[LiLithTecH]

If you are going to pay $90-$100 for a 5 yr old CPU there are plenty of descent deals on
CPU-Motherboard Combos for about the same price.
(I know it would require a ram-case-psu-video upgrade, but you are looking at ROI)

 

[WT]

I think the best buy for you would be a quality slotket and a Celeron 566@850. I usta run a pair of them in separate rigs, and they are easily found on Ebay for around $25 w/o slotket (another $20). Just set the slotket to run at 100fsb and off you go. Its a budget setup and you do not have to scrap your existing setup.