Asus P3B-F capabilities?

[Mackerel]

I am presently funning a P3 450 in an Asus P3B-F mb and I want to upgrade my processor. What is the fastest chip that I can put in this mb, either P3 or celeron? Also is there anything that I have to do to like flashing the bios or adding a flipchip to it to get the most out of the mb?

 

[KennyH]

Yep, flash the bios to the latest version with the Cu-Mine microcode in it and you will be set. I am quite sure that it will take up to a P3 1.0 GHZ.

 

[AndyHui]

Please read the FAQ: What is the fastest processor I can use on an ASUS Slot 1 motherboard?

 

[Mackerel]

Thanks for the link. According to the article the revision of the board that I have, 1.04, should be able to handle up to a 1.1 gig P3 or Celeron. It does bring up a question about video cards though. I am presently using a 3dfx voodoo 3 3000 video card. Any idea if this would pose a problem if I were to upgrade the processor to a 1 gig Celeron, I am looking for a cheap upgrade at this time. Also to put a 1 gig celeron in what kind of adapter would I need to put a FCPGA S370 chip into a slot 1 mb? Thanks in advance and again thanks for the link.

 

[AndyHui]

All Celerons run on the 100MHz FSB by default. That should pose no problems for your video card. AGP 3dfx cards also handle very high AGP bus speeds since they do not use any of the fancy AGP signalling functions, should you want to overclock/use a higher FSB.

Any FC-PGA compatible Slotket unit will do, although we usually recommend a name brand unit like Iwill or ASUS.

 

[BT7990]

Running a P3B-F w/PIII 850 on a S370 Slotket, Rev 1006. Rock solid and stable. Personally not into anything Beta, so I stick w/the specs.
Asus

Moving into the 21st century next month.... A7V266-E, 1.2GHZ T-Bird, 512 DDR

 

[SharkB8]

Saturday I flashed to BIOS version 1008.004 found on the German ASUS website on my P3B-F rev1.05. Afterwards I ripped out my P3 800mhz, 100mhzFSB and installed a P3 1ghz, 100mhzFSB and the system has been running 24/7 flawlessly ever since. I haven't even had a single hiccup. The worst part was the sting of paying for a 1ghz, 100mhzFSB SECC2 CPU.

Go ahead and flash that sucker, no worries.

 

[CaptJohn]

SharkB8-

When you flashed the bios did you use the 1008.004 file?
If I remember right, the Award flash program asks for a 100x.awd file.
I found this same beta bios but I'am not sure how to flash it since it
seems to be a different type of file.

 

[AndyHui]

CaptJohn:

Nope. It's the same type of file. It's simply ASUS Germany's file naming conventions. Simply rename the file to an AWD extension and you should be fine.

If you still have problems, PM me.

 

[SharkB8]

Andy- Being the rock that I am, I forgot to rename the file to an .awd file. I got lucky and it still flashed fine. Lucky me.

 

[AndyHui]

You only need to rename if you use the Windows based BIOS Flash utility.

There is no need to rename if you use the DOS based AFLASH.EXE.

 

[SharkB8]

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Mackerel]

Sounds good. The only bios version 1008 that I was able to find was the German one as well. The bios I downloaded is listed as 1008f3.004. Is this the same one that you have? I just want to make sure before I go ahead and flash it. I also wonder why they don't list this bios revision on the American site. One further question for you good people: Does using a slotket adversely affect the performance to any great degree? The Celeron seems to be the way to go as up here in Canada the 1gig celeron goes for $130 and the 1 gig P3 slot 1 costs about $400. I can't see that there can be that much of a difference for what I use the comp for, some gameing, internet and kids homework. Any further input will be appreciated.Thanks again to all who posted replies.

 

[AndyHui]

BIOS Version 1008 Beta 004; yes you have the correct file.

ASUS' BIOS Development unit is based in Germany, that's why all of the latest BIOSes are found there. Their worldwide mirrors don't exactly mirror everything or seem to update on a specific schedule.

A slotket makes NO measureable difference in performance.

 

[Mackerel]

Thanks again Andy. It seems that I do have another question relating to flashing the bios. Which method is easier and more foolproof to do, the dos way or the windows way? I have never flashed before. The bios that is. Was gonna a few times but was always scared off by the dire warnings that if I didn't do it exactly right I would need to take my comp in for service to revive it. Oh and one other question, they keep popping into my head. While my mb has stamped on it that I have an Asus P3B-F rev 1.04 when I put the Asus P3B-F Motherboard Support CD Rve.4.26 in and go to Show Motherboard Information, it lists the mb as Rev 1.01. I am thinking that I can trust the actual info stamped on the mb over the info given by the support cd. What do you guys think? The reason for this last query is that I remember seeing somewhere that you have to have rev 1.03 of this board or higher to be able to use up to a 1.1 gig proc. Thanks for all input and also for your patience in dealing with a novice tinkerer.

 

[SharkB8]

I know the question wasn't for me but I don't trust flashing the BIOS throught the OS. Call me old fashioned but I trust, and am more comfortable doing it through DOS. You have to reconfigure the settings anyway so why even mess with doing it through Winblows.

Not sure on the MOBO rev. question. Andy would know how to answer this one better than me.

 

[AndyHui]

I concur with SharkB8. I personally prefer to flash using the DOS AFLASH.EXE, but that's because I am a purist. The likelihood of something going wrong in DOS is somewhat lower in my opinion.

The correct motherboard PCB version is the one physically printed on the motherboard.