Asus CUW-RM - Coppermine processor support

[Plouw]

Hi all - hope someone can help me!

I purchased a whole bunch of the ASUS CUW-RM motherboards (Intel 810 chipset). According to the specs, it supports Coppermine, and processor speeds up to 750 Mhz (only 66 and 100 Mhz).

I tried a Celeron 900 Mhz (100 Mhz) on this board, and it worked 100%, except for a "CPU info incorrect" message.

I then Emailed Asus, who informed me that the highest processor this board can take is Celeron 850 or PIII-850, with the latest Bios 1016 Beta, which they mailed me.

I tried this bios, and voila - it worked! So I could happily sell these boards (of which I have 80) with nice cheap processors. Then, suddenly, the packaging of the Cel 850 processors changes slightly. (they were clearly Intel, but fans were bigger than before). Strangely, the message "unknown CPU" returned. Now how can that happen?

Anyway, I contacted Asus again, and they were very clearly not willing to support this old board any more. :disgust:

 

[Plouw]

Sorry, I was not finished - must have pressed wrong key...

Anyway, they told me now, that I can only put Celeron 800 maximum on this board. Now this is bulltwang, and I know it! Because I have personally sold dozens with the Cel 850 and no problem. To me, Asus's answer means that they are not willing to update the Bios of this old motherboard any more. It is so much easier just to say "it can only take up to here", than to update the Bios code!!

NOW MY QUESTION
What are your feelings RE this matter? Personally, I reckon that : Coppermine is coppermine, Asus have always used better than standard quality components in their motherboards, so: If the motherboard supports a Celeron processor (100 Mhz) running at 800 and 850, then it actually should also work with even a 900, 950 and 1000 Mhz Celeron!!

Now, I feel sure it will work, but the question is: will it be stable? And am I taking a chance? Please anyone out there - I am new to this kind of thing and any suggestion will be highly appreciated.

 

[AndyHui]

It's a little more complex than "A Coppermine is a Coppermine". The incorrect CPUID message that you are receiving is the result of a processor on a different stepping that the BIOS is unable to recognise.

Your older processors are probably cB0 stepping Coppermines, while the new ones are either cC0 or cD0 stepping.

The latest BIOS for this motherboard, version 1017 Beta 002, has full support for your new processors.

 

[Plouw]

Hi Andy,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Hats off to Anandtech!

My querie was related to the CUW-RM motherboard. Although your link supplied was to the CUWE-RM, I was able to follow the .DE ftp link, and download the correct Bios, which solved my problem.

I wasn't aware that the .DE Asus site would be different than the .tw? On the asus.com.tw website, the latest Bios for the CUW-RM motherboard is still 1012!! So thanks to your help, I could get the 1017 Bios off the .DE site.

There is still a second part to my question:- What is your "feeling" about the highest processor (66 or 100 Mhz) that the CUW-RM is supposed to be able to take? Asus.com.tw says "only Cel 800". But then again, they still have Bios 1012 on their site!

Once again, thank you!

 

[AndyHui]

The BIOS development division for ASUS is located in Germany. The latest BIOSes are always available on the German server first, and are not necessarily mirrored by Taiwan or the other mirrors.

Limitations to processor speed are almost always related to stepping issues. In this case, for the CUW-RM, as with any other FC-PGA board, should be capable of handling up to a Celeron 1.1GHz on the cD0 stepping.