Compaq Presario 2298 PC CPU questions

[Slickone]

I picked up a Compaq Presario 2298 Desktop PC with a 19" monitor at yard sale for $10 dollars. The PC is a Japanese version.
x86test and memtest86 says it's got a K6-2 400Mhz, FSB is 80Mhz (80??) , L1 = 64K @ 2453MB/s, L2 = unknown. Why can't it read the L2 cache size?
Why does AMD's website say the K6-2 is only available in 500-550Mhz?
What's the fastest CPU I can put in it?

Would you put Win98SE or XP on it? It has 256MB (2x128MB PC100) RAM. It originally came with Win2K installed.

Should there be an owners manual online for this? I can't find it on the item page.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Open it up and find out.

 

[stevty2889]

I'd run 98SE, with a CPU that slow and only 256mb of ram, windows xp would eat that system for breakfast. If I remember correctly the K6-2 doesn't have on die L2 cache, the cache is on the motherboard, so thats likely why it can't read the L2 cache.

 

[Slickone]

Thanks for the answers.

Still wondering:
Why is the FSB 80Mhz?
What's the fastest CPU I can put in it?
Anywhere to get a manual? Not a big deal.
Also, how do I find out beforehand if I could put in 2 x 256MB sticks, and if high density or PC133 would work?

Originally posted by: Kensai
Open it up and find out.

Why? Should I not believe x86test? I just didnt want to break the heatsink 'seal' if I didnt need to. Though it's probably dried up anyway.

 

[Slickone]

^

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: Slickone
Thanks for the answers.

Still wondering:
Why is the FSB 80Mhz?
What's the fastest CPU I can put in it?
Anywhere to get a manual? Not a big deal.
Also, how do I find out beforehand if I could put in 2 x 256MB sticks, and if high density or PC133 would work?

Originally posted by: Kensai
Open it up and find out.

Why? Should I not believe x86test? I just didnt want to break the heatsink 'seal' if I didnt need to. Though it's probably dried up anyway.

Are you sure it's a 400mhz CPU? Perhaps it's a 500mhz, it should be 100mhz FSB. 100x5=500mhz, 80x5=400mhz..the only 400mhz K6-2 I could find said 100mhz FSB, so there is probably a jumper setting on the motherboard that needs to be changed. There really isn't an easy way to figure out what the fastest cpu supported is unless you know what motherboard and chipset it has. Easiest way to find out what memory and how much is supported, go to crucial.com, put in the model of the PC, and it will tell you what memory it will support.

 

[Hiruko]

Come on dude, be patient. Have you tried google?

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Are you sure it's a 400mhz CPU? Perhaps it's a 500mhz, it should be 100mhz FSB. 100x5=500mhz, 80x5=400mhz..the only 400mhz K6-2 I could find said 100mhz FSB, so there is probably a jumper setting on the motherboard that needs to be changed. There really isn't an easy way to figure out what the fastest cpu supported is unless you know what motherboard and chipset it has. Easiest way to find out what memory and how much is supported, go to crucial.com, put in the model of the PC, and it will tell you what memory it will support.

Well again, I was just going by what x86test (& memtest) said. It did also say 5x multiplier. I tried twisting and pulling the heatsink with quite a bit of force, but it must be glued. Guess I'd have to pry it up with a screwdriver w/ credit card underneath. There are Clk and Freq jumpers on the mobo, and a label that says 9Q7985LGL Desert Storm 2. I haven't been able to find anything online for it. Pic

Crucial doesn't list this exact model. Maybe because it's Japanese. It does have one # lower (2297), which is max 256MB.

Originally posted by: Hiruko
Come on dude, be patient. Have you tried google?

What's google?
Go away.

 

[stevty2889]

Using google I found this... It would appear that it supports a max of 256mb, so you won't really be able to upgrade the ram.

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Using google I found this... It would appear that it supports a max of 256mb, so you won't really be able to upgrade the ram.

Thanks. Yeah I figured as much since the 2297 was 256MB. Oh well.

I've tried to find something that shows how to set the jumpers, but the only ones I find have different layouts. Anyone know where I might find that?
Should I try to pull the heatsink off to verify what it is?

BTW, this XP Myths page says XP should run OK with 128MB.
Also this says if you have at least a 400MHz machine with 256MB of RAM, Windows XP will run
faster on your system than will Windows 2000.
Anyone agree/disagree? I've never tried XP on a machine that slow.

 

[stevty2889]

Every computer I have seen running windows XP on only 256mb of ram has been very very sluggish, XP uses almost that much on its own.

 

[SolMiester]

Dont do it, 98se better suited, you may be able to put a K6-3 550 in though dont think there will be much difference is performance

 

[Slickone]

OK, thanks guys.

I realize a K6-3 550 wouldn't be that much faster, but if I could get one for cheap, I'd do it.
That is unless what I already have is a 500. One line of x86test just says K6, and the other says K6-2. Also says it has 3D Now. Oddly AMD doesn't list a 400Mhz for the K6 either.

 

[Slickone]

Well I got the heatsink off and it is a 400Mhz. So why does AMD's website say what it does? This also says the K6-2 comes in 300-500Mhz.

Why does x86test say the bus is 80mhz when the K6-2 is supposed to be 100? Can I set it to 100 x 4?

How can I find out the fastest CPU I can put in this?

I ran prime95 and after a few minutes, get an error "Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4. Hardware failure detected." Any ideas why?

 

[stevty2889]

It was probably a special OEM chip made specificly for Compaq and some others, soemtimes things are made that go to OEM's that don't get sold retail. If you can find out exactly what motherboard you have, then find out the jumper settings, you can probably set it to 4x100, or even 5x100, not that it's gonna perform well either way. Which prime95 test were you running?

 

[Slickone]

Did you see the mobo model name/# and picture link I posted above? Guess I'll need to contact Compaq?

Prime95 - not sure what you mean. I didn't know there was more than one test. I put in a # to test like it says, and when you load, it starts automatically, with no animation showing it's running.

 

[stevty2889]

Didn't see the motherboard model number in that picture. As for prime95 go to options, and torture test, there are 3 options, small FTT, large FTT, and blend. When people are refering to using prime95 for stability testing, they are doing the torture test, not actualy running the program to find a prime # which is what you were doing. I ususaly run the small FTT for 12hours and the large FTT for 12 hours.

 

[Slickone]

Hmm. Desert Storm 2 sounded like a model. Are they ever on a label? Might it be on the back?

 

[Slickone]

Got a few more pics, of the whole mobo.
1
2

Also one of the only #s on the back.

 

[Slickone]

^

 

[Slickone]

Someone at Compaq told me that the CPU in this (K6-2 400) is the fastest that will work in it. Should I believe that?

 

[Slickone]

^

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Slickone
Someone at Compaq told me that the CPU in this (K6-2 400) is the fastest that will work in it. Should I believe that?

Dunno, but it sounds like the CPU is shot. Or the memory. Whichever is causing Prime95 to fail. Try running SuperPi.

 

[Slickone]

Revive.

Someone at Compaq told me that the CPU in this (K6-2 400) is the fastest that will work in it. Is that true? Why wouldn't a K6-III (550, 600, 633, 660) work?

 

[Slickone]

^