MAJOR HELP PLEASE (probably only from the MAJOR gurus)

[theSAiNT12345]

I have a Pentium II motherboard which i have identified as based on the SE440BX Intel motherboard by the first part of the BIOS identification string which is: 4S4BOX1.10A.0019.P09(AO9)
Now, the first part idenfies the board, but the next bit doesn't match the standard Intel board. My board came in a Dell machine so it's different because it's for OEM.
However, I assume it to be mostly similar to the standard board.
Here is the problem:
I would like the upgrade my machine without changing the motherboard. Unfortunately, this particular motherboard only supports a P3 450 and the reason given is that the board does not provide enough power. Doing this upgrade would entail just flashing the BIOS and slotting the P3 in.
However, because a lot of other motherboard manufacturers provide an adapter card to convert the slot into a socket as well as providing power. The Intel website does not mention any such support but is it possible? And if it is, what should I do.
I realise this may take you some time to research and I am very grateful for any advice you may have to offer.
Here is the Intel website about the motherboard:
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/se440bx/


Thank you for your help

 

[Buz2b]

First off, I am not a major Guru. Second, while I can't answer your question exactly, I can give you some hints/help. I used to frequent the DellTalk Forum on the Dell web site when I owned a Dell. One of the more frequent discussions was about wanting to slap in a faster Processor in their machines. Dell is rather notorious for their lack of BIOS suppport for their motherboards to allow this. The machines are limited, although a retail version of the same motherboard would have a BIOS update to allow this kind of upgrade. And yes, they don't exactly provide beefy power supplies either. Many on that Forum found a way and were able to flash their BIOS using the Intel version instead of a Dell version. WARNING!!!! This can ruin your Motherboard!! It is not without peril. Many have done this succesfully though and were then able to put in a faster processor. If you know what Dell model your board came from you may be able to find this information on their forum. YOU should start there for your research. I am sure someone there can guide you through it. Good luck.

 

[Zuluwarrior]

Dell is notorious for providing sub par power supplies and
that WOULD be an issue in this upgrade I would imagine.
Also, the PS connectors on the dell boards were proprietary
as I recall.

This is one classic example of why the people in this forum
build their own. They don't pigeonhole themselves into
a corner regarding case fit, memory compatibility, cpu upgrades
and power supply upgrades.

One of the great challenges you will probably have in re: to
this upgrade is the overt "cheapness" that PC's have
inherited due to downward pressure on demand and the
overall cost declines in the recent months.

I would say that if you were to spend any more than 75.00 total
on this upgrade, there would be very little point, when for well
under 1000.00 you could buy a Dell 1.3 GIG P4 and use your monitor etc.

For well under 600, you could do a Thunderbird 1.2/266 and an Epox 8k7a board
with Crucial 256meg of DDR.

Hard to justify spending very much on a PII450 when this kind of horsepower
is out there for very little more and the really nice thing about going
this route, is you can use your old machine to offset the cost of it, and
it would give you a much longer upgrade path for future revisions etc.