Max CPU on ECS K7SEM v1.0

[Damien]

I've got two ECS K7SEM boards I'd like to upgrade from their current 1ghz Durons. There was a BIOS upgrade relased (http://www.ecsusa.com/downloads/k7sem.html) on February 11th this year that says:

1. Update AMD Athlon XP CPU support
2. Changed function of method for fixed XP showed that Port 70, 71 can't access in WinXP OS

The previous release supported the Athlon XP 2100+ and 2200+ CPUs.

Anyone know what the new upgrade supports? What CPU core should I be able to use (Barton, Thoroughbred, etc)?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[NicColt]

I have 2 of em myself and most likely any 266 cpu's or upto 2400 xp's and only if your using pc133. There's no way this will support bartons.

BTW my two systems have been cracking 24/7 for over 8 months now without any problems.

 

[Peter]

For use with Athlon XP CPUs, your K7SEM hardware needs to have the "B1" revision of the SiS chipset. There should be a sticker on it indicating this fact. No sticker, no Athlon XP, no matter what BIOS.

 

[Damien]

I can breath a sigh of relief, both of mine have that sticker on the PCB just beside the chipset.

Now to find some good prices on CPUs.

 

[Damien]

BTW, thanks for the help guys!

 

[Damien]

BTW, any idea if this would go to the 2700+ chip? If I'm going to upgrade at all I'd like to max it out. Then again, according to the priceguide the 2600+ is at least one-third less...

 

[Damien]

Nevermind, it seems anything faster than a 2400+ has a 333MHz bus. Bummer.

 

[Iron Woode]

keep in mind what cpu multipliers your boards support.

i would try something slower like XP2100+.

I am going to be trying tbred support in my 810LMR board (virtually the same as yours) soon.

 

[Peter]

Boards don't "support multipliers". The CPU itself does the multiplying. All of it. And it's been that way ever since the 486DX2.
Secondly, M810 is substantially different from K7SEM v1.x. v3.x actually IS M810, but the "real" K7SEM is quite a different board. Particularly in that the M810 doesn't seem to like Thoroughbred CPUs at all, user reports have been less than disappointing. So it's actually you who should be trying a Palomino, 2100+ max.

Damien, yes, 2400+ is the fastest suitable. There briefly were 133 MHz bus 2600+ too, but these have been replaced by a 166 MHz bus model.

 

[Damien]

Peter - thanks again. I'll see about ordering some 2400+ CPUs when our mortgage goes through.