Procedure to replace Cel266 with P3-700+MSI6905 on BH6?

[Pete]

Other than setting the BIOS back to CPU defaults (266(66), CPU Default voltage) what should I be aware of? Changing my CPU won't affect Win98 adversely, right?

I'd have done this already, but fool that I am, I forgot the P3 supports in my Abit BH6 box, and I don't think the Celeron supports I have on now are compatible. So I'm posting this both to be absolutely sure I don't do anything foolish, and to kill time .

 

[KR]

Since you posted this hours ago you've probably already got it up and running. In any case, you pretty much have things the way they need to be. You'll want to have flashed the latest bios for your board to insure that your new processor will be decected. Without proper detection you can still use the user defined settings to select the FSB, Multiplier, etc.

Make sure you have the slocket set for FC-PGA. the rest of the jumpers can be left to the "mobo" determines settings for auto detection and when you adjust things with the bios it will over-ride the CPU settings that were detected.

I just did a similar upgrade with a BX6R2, IWILL SlocketII (very similar to your MSI) and a PIII-800E. Works great up to 124MHZ FSB (992MHZ).

 

[Pete]

Actually, I'm only going to get my first chance tonight. Thanks for the tips, KR.

 

[klod]

Also, after you flash your bios, don't forget to set the speed error hold on disable. I forgot this at first and had a panic attack for a sec

 

[Pete]

 

[compuwiz1]

Pete, if that is an early board lacking 1/4 pci divisor, you will be running your pci bus at 44MHz! Ouch!
Also, your ram must be top notch and make sure the agp is set to 2/3, not 1/1.

 

[KR]

Good thing to consider compuwiz1 - but I believe he was just planning on running the chip at 700. At 700 it's a std 100MHZ FSB and the divide by three PCI will be stock. If he has the later BH6 he's probably in for a treat when he starts bumping up the FSB.

 

[compuwiz1]

See how I am...always assuming people won't waste good silicon and will try and get the most out of it.

 

[Pete]

Actually, the reason I went for this is because I just wanted stability--my current Celly is not too stable. And the reason I didn't go thru you, compuwiz, is because I had a credit at Egghead. The reason I got a 700 is for future overclocking. For now, I'm sure a 75% increase in speed will suffice (probably more, as I didn't have L2 in this Celly); but when I get that yearning, I'll try my best to break these components. Yeah, I know I'd be running at 44MHz PCI--hopefully my other parts will be able to handle it. I doubt all of my ory will make it a 133, but at least one stick should. If not, more RAM won't be that expensive, and I suppose my other machine will benefit from 256MBs extra .

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[KR]

If your old Celly is a pre-A device you can expect to see an amazing improvement - more like 150-200%. Enjoy the ride!

 

[Pete]

SUCCESS! I'm seeing 2x perf in Sandra 2000, and 3x perf in Q3:TA demo and Counterstrike. This is really, really sweet. I'm definitely happy. Heck, even Gamespy is quicker--before, changing tabs (CS to Favs) took 10 secs, now it's instantaneous. L2 cache makes a world of difference .

 

[KR]

C'mon Pete - at least turn turbo on - get another 18 MHZ or so.

 

[Pete]

Hehe--maybe this weekend . I'm running at 100 F according to MBM, and running Prime95, SETI, and RC5 at once, and no crashes, in a pretty hot room (probably 70+ F). So this is how a computer is supposed to perform...

 

[Pete]

A thought occurs: is the small thermal "patch" on the retail heatsink sufficient for non-overclocked use? My system seems eminently stable, but I don't want to have trouble down the road.

 

[KR]

The small patch of thermal pad on the retail heatsink does a fine job. It heats and compresses with use and ends up being a very thin heat conductive layer between the processor and heatsink. Once it's done its thing, probably best not to try removing the heatsink 'til you're ready to replace it with a bigger/better one. With the retail heatsink I acheived essentially the same speeds and only slightly warmer tems than with a golden orb. I bumped my processor up to 112MHZ w/1.7V the first day and have been raising it by bits as time goes on. The retail heatsink did the job up to 117MHZ FSB for me. Beyoind that the Gorb's been required.

As long as you're able to maintain close to default voltage (1.7 - 1.75V) the retail HSF should handle the heat. When you get up above 933MHZ or raise the voltage to 1.8V and higher is probably when you want to go to some additional cooling. Your 100F (I'm guessing that's board and not CPU temp) is well within tolerences and you can pretty safely bump it up a bit if you care to try.