Epox 8KHA+ upgrade CPU?

[Tharsis]

System currently with Epox 8KHA+( Dec2001 vintage) and Athlon XP 1700+ CPU. Works great...no probs. Considering upping the horsepower to XP 2200+ CPU. Anybody:

1. Will the 8KHA+ accept XP2200+ CPU without BIOS upgrade ?

2. If I NEED to do a BIOS upgrade to handle 2200+CPU is that a 'big deal" to do on EPOX mobos? Never done before.....

3. Best recommended HSF for the XP2200+...open to all suggestions!

Thanks!
Thar.

 

[Soulkeeper]

shouldn't have any problems running it
the only thing the other bios might not do is display the cpu's model number properly during boot
otherwise it will work perfectly

 

[Tharsis]

Soulkeeper:
Good info....thanks!

Thar.

 

[Jeff7]

BIOS upgrade should be no problem at all. The file you download from Epox's website is a self extracting EXE, but it would be easier to just open it using WinZIP and decompress the files to a bootable floppy disk.
Boot off of the floppy and just run the command:
awdflash biosfile.name
Then reset when it prompts for it. Then go into BIOS, load optimized defaults (I think this needs to be done to 'activate' the new BIOS settings), Save and exit, then after it reboots from that, go right into BIOS and tweak away.
Or just follow the instructions in the readme.txt file contained within the EXE file from Epox.
Just make VERY SURE that you have the right webpage pulled up. Flashing the wrong board's BIOS will likely result in an unbootable system, though I think that the new version of AWDflash, or the motherboard itself, can detect if the BIOS file isn't the right one.

I have a 1600XP@1900 (1.6GHz) on this board with no problems.

 

[Mem]

Flashing the bios on the 8KHA+ is very easy,you`ve two ways of doing it,the ALT+F2 method doesn`t back up your old bios file,

The ALT+F2 Method

Download the required BIOS image file from the EPoX website.
Copy or extract the BIOS image file (named xxxxxxxx.bin) to a blank floppy disk with no bad sectors on it.
Restart the machine with the floppy disk in the floppy drive
When prompted at machine initialization, press ALT+F2 to begin performing the flashing of the BIOS.
The BIOS will automatically flash and reboot the machine.
After this, press DEL to enter the BIOS setup and select to "LOAD OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS". After doing this select to "SAVE & EXIT"
Please note that this does not create a backup of the BIOS binary file.
This does not require you to have a bootable floppy disk.

The Boot Disk Method

Create a bootable floppy disk in accordance with the instructions laid out in the manual of your particular operating system. This bootable floppy needs to be able to boot to a DOS console capable of executing normal MS-DOS batch and executable files.
Download the required BIOS image file from the EPoX website.
Copy to this floppy disk a copy of AWDFLASH.EXE and also a copy of the BIOS binary image file called xxxxxxxx.bin
Insert the diskette into drive A, reboot your system and boot from the diskette.
When booting is finished, type update and then press return to run BIOS upgrade program.
The BIOS will automatically flash and reboot the machine.
After this, press DEL to enter the BIOS setup and select to "LOAD OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS". After doing this select to "SAVE & EXIT"
Please note that this does not create a backup of the BIOS binary file.
For Command line help on Award Flash utility, type AWDFLASH/? at the command prompt and press return.

The BIOS dated 4/4/02 supports XP2200+ (going by Epox AMD CPU list) .

Almost forgot your last question,if you buy retail it comes with a heatsink/fan.The Taisol CGK760172 is approved up to XP 2600+ would be my choice if I had to buy a decent cooler.