P3/850e good OC'er on OEM Intel SE440BX Mobo?

[DannyLarry]

I am about to upgrade my old Dell XPSR400 (p2/400 100fsb, Intel SE440BX Mobo..)with a P3 cpu. Someone has contacted me via another forum offering me a p3/600e @$160 USD (w/shipping). He tells me this is an extremely overclockable cpu and thus, worth the money. But I have done some more research since I had originally thought of this and found that many people using the same exact setup as myself have opted for the P3/850e (slot 1)cpu with zero hassle. I could get one of these from googlegear.com for not a hell of alot more (~$250 vs. $160 for p3/600e). I do want to overclock the cpu eventually.. Are the 850e's not good for this or something? Is the 600e somehow a better purchase in this context? Any help/advise is really appreciated!

Somewhat confused.. DL

 

[Chuffmaster2k]

Good Luck. I did a quick search on Intel's website and got the following info...

Processor Family Processor Speed Notes
Pentium® III 450 MHz requires BIOS P11 or later
Pentium® II 450 MHz requires BIOS P09 or later
400 MHz
350 MHz
333 MHz
300 MHz
266 MHz
233 MHz

Notes:

Intel® Pentium III processors that run internally faster than 450 MHz are not supported because the maximum Icc current required is greater than what can be supplied by the motherboard's on-board voltage regulator. For processor requirements, see the Pentium III processor datasheet.

While the Intel® Celeron? processor uses the same P6 microarchitecture as the Pentium II processor, there are some differences. No qualification or compatibility testing has been performed using the Celeron processor and the BIOS does not contain support for this processor. While the Celeron processor may appear to work in a SE440BX board, the reliability of operation is not known.

Warning: Processors not specifically listed by type and rated speed may have requirements that are not supported by the motherboard's design. Use of unsupported processors may result in improper operation, damage to the motherboard or processor, or reduced product life.

Here is the page for your motherboard.
SE440BX

 

[Vrangel]

My friend has XPS R400. I had c366@550 on Iwill Slocket2
which I no longer needed. It works in that system now without any problems.
Dell BIOS shows it as P2 500, since it doesnt know anything higher.
This mobo used to support 500MHz CPUs, but that was removed in later
Intel BIOS revisions. So its up to 450MHz officially now.
Still c366@550 is a lot faster compared to P2 400.

The only way to overclock on this board is to run Celeron at 100fsb.
Its an early BX board, later rev. SE440BX-2 was used in Dell XPS Txxx.
SE440BX-2 does support faster CPUs like those you planned to use.

 

[odog]

don't plan on doing very much if any overclocking on that mobo..... intel kinda limits FSB overclocking with thier own boards.(which kinda screws you unless you go the celeron route)

i do remember that their is one bios for the seattle board that does support coppermines..... i don't believe that it correctly display the chips speed(at post)....but the chips do run perfectly besides being reported incorrectly

i think it's bios version 12.... but this is second hand info from memory

 

[BigLance]

I have that board in a machine of mine, like these guys said, only goes to P3 450 / 100 FSB without doing anything advised against etc. I wouldn't mess with this board to much, Intel/ Phoenix BIOS's are not the greatest for OCing. But Good Luck whatever you do !

 

[DannyLarry]

Thanks to all very much! This info is inline with everything else I have heard to date about Intel cpus and mobos. I was really trying to get at the possibility of this p3/600e being "pre-lockout" or something. I've heard you have to 'unlock' Intel gear to Oc it. Anyway, I think I am going for the slot1 P3/850e, and I won't feel an urgent need to try to OC for awhile anyway.

BTW, I feel confident that this upgrade is possible after checking out the Dell User's Hardware Upgrade Forum. If you talk to Dell, they basically give you the pathetic "don't really know.." or the aggresive "you can't upgrade the cpu, buy a new system.." But their support site actually hosts a hardware upgrade forum with many users of the exact system model I have who have literally plugged a new cpu into their mobo and had solid reliability (w/bios flash, of course..)

Dell is very strange!! Anyway, I'm happy it will work, there is even a step-by-step with photos on replacing the cpu. Thanks!