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WTH, does Intel make special chips just for big companies like Compaq/HP?

J

JackBurton

Lifer
This is just totally wild! Today at work, we had 1000+ Compaq Evo D510 Ultra Slim Desktops come in. Well I decided to double check and see if it was in fact a P4 and not a Celeron under the heatsink. So I popped the HS off and low and behold, it looked like a P4 but WITHOUT the heat spreader? WTF is that about? So I then booted up the machine (with the CPU attacked properly) and found another surprise, a freakin' 1.7GHz P4 with 512K L2 cache? When the hell did Intel start making 1.7GHz P4s with 512K L2 cache? The Northwoods are 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz, 2.0GHz and above. You just can't go out to some retailer on the web and get a 1.7GHz P4 with 512K of L2 cache, so what gives? Anyone know the answer to this riddle? Just weird! 😕

And let me just add, even when I took the heatsink off, I wasn't sure if it was a P4 or Celeron as it had NO markings on it telling you what type of chip it was. WTH is up with that?
 
sure it wasn't a Xeon based proc? I don't think the Evo's have that option. Plus I know intel has made chips in the past that weren't sold to the public. Take the 186. There is an actual thing. It powers a lot of industrial printers, even today.
 
In a word, yes. When you buy millions of chips, Intel is happy to do you little favours. There's many things like this that never hit the general retail market.

The fact is that that 1.7GHz Northwood is exactly the same as a 1.6, and a 1.8. It's just got a different fixed multiplier value. Intel can very easily create a chip like this at virtually no extra cost to themselves. That 1.7 that's in your Compaq's is probably qualified and binned as a 1.8, but multiplied as a 1.7 for Compaq's purposes.
 
very interesting.

i was thinking along the lines they wanted and low heat chip.... asked intel... then intel binned some chips extra slow took the spreader off for increased thermal conductivity. then viola!
 
Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
well i just looked at pricewatch and intel's site and they both list 1.7GHz proc in 478 and 423 pin variations.
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Intel sells 1.7GHz Willamette's in Socket423 and S478, so that's to be expected.
 
well i just looked at pricewatch and intel's site and they both list 1.7GHz proc in 478 and 423 pin variations.
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Yeah, but they're willy cores. He's got a 1.7GHz Northwood with 512KB cache. You can't buy it in a box. You also can't get a 478 P4 without a heat spreader at retail. Good thing too, since Intel's stupid heatsink clamp applies like a trillion pounds of pressure or something. You could crush a penny between the heatspreader and CPU 😀
 
Maybe it's a mobile chip? No heatspreader, 1.7Ghz Northwood, it would make sense for a thin desktop. I don't know if the P4-m uses socket 478 though...
 
Originally posted by: Inept
well i just looked at pricewatch and intel's site and they both list 1.7GHz proc in 478 and 423 pin variations.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but they're willy cores. He's got a 1.7GHz Northwood with 512KB cache. You can't buy it in a box. You also can't get a 478 P4 without a heat spreader at retail. Good thing too, since Intel's stupid heatsink clamp applies like a trillion pounds of pressure or something. You could crush a penny between the heatspreader and CPU 😀
Click to expand...

Have you tried? 😉
 
Originally posted by: Spicedaddy
Maybe it's a mobile chip? No heatspreader, 1.7Ghz Northwood, it would make sense for a thin desktop. I don't know if the P4-m uses socket 478 though...
Click to expand...

I'm 99% sure that the P4m uses the mPGA478 socket. But, why would any company, even Compaq, put a mobile processor ina desktop computer? It would just bring up costs, not lower them.
 
I bet you could get Intel to make a chip just for you if you paid them enough. Of course, they're more willing to make a special CPU for Compaq because they will order thousands of them. Also, as someone else said, it is not to tough to alter the multiplier of the CPU to produce a 1.7GHz CPU. They just didn't feel 100MHz CPU steps were necessary for the mainstream consumer. For some reason, Compaq feels the 1.7GHz Northwood is a good combination of price and performance for this laptop series.
 
Originally posted by: KraziKid
Originally posted by: Spicedaddy
Maybe it's a mobile chip? No heatspreader, 1.7Ghz Northwood, it would make sense for a thin desktop. I don't know if the P4-m uses socket 478 though...
Click to expand...

I'm 99% sure that the P4m uses the mPGA478 socket. But, why would any company, even Compaq, put a mobile processor ina desktop computer? It would just bring up costs, not lower them.
Click to expand...

because it's an ULTRA SLIM desktop? It's obviously not aimed at the low cost market...
 
DISCLAIMER: I'm pretty sure the following is true, but there is the distinct possibility that I could be inaccurate on a couple of the details... 🙂

No, Intel did not fabricate a line of chips specifically for Compaq. However, they did make a very limited line of mid-power SFF (Small Form Factor) P4's. HP and IBM also use the SFF cpu's.

I've never seen one, nor seen a paper on them. So, I can't say for sure that they don't include an IHS, or that's positively what you have, Jack.

But I am willing to wager that this is the case. 😉
 
Here's a theory...

Comquack bought 1.6 NW's and overclocked them to 1.7GHz (you better check the FSB). (saves money - sell them for more, to up the $margins)
They removed the heat spreader so you wouldn't see the 1.6GH'z markings.
They removed the heat spreader so it would run cooler so they could install them with heat sink only (no fan = less cost = higher $margins)

hehe.. them dirty bastards! :|






Of course you know I'm kidding. 😉
 
Originally posted by: afzan

because it's an ULTRA SLIM desktop? It's obviously not aimed at the low cost market...
Click to expand...

ROFLMAO. Those ULTRA SLIMs all have ZERO AGP slots, ZERO PCI slots, lower speed CPUs (looks like you can finally get real P4s not Celerons on the D510 tho, previous ultraslims you couldn't), $10 chipsets, and 50W power supplies. Yes, that's right, not enough enough power to run your laptop. Also, I've never heard of a Compaq with a fan on the CPU. Even the Proliant servers don't have em. If the ultraslims aren't aimed at the low-cost (one step above proptronics) "does this computer go well with my dress?" market I don't know what is.

I wouldn't be surprised if using a laptop CPU actually does reduce costs because of the difference in cost for a desktop CPU being less than the cost of fans and an adequate power supply.
 
ROFLMAO. Those ULTRA SLIMs all have ZERO AGP slots, ZERO PCI slots, lower speed CPUs (looks like you can finally get real P4s not Celerons on the D510 tho, previous ultraslims you couldn't), $10 chipsets, and 50W power supplies. Yes, that's right, not enough enough power to run your laptop. Also, I've never heard of a Compaq with a fan on the CPU. Even the Proliant servers don't have em. If the ultraslims aren't aimed at the low-cost (one step above proptronics) "does this computer go well with my dress?" market I don't know what is.
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Ya, that's what companies want, a big ass Antec server case on their employees desk.
rolleye.gif


ZERO AGP slots
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You don't need an AGP slot. They're using the i845G chipset which provides PLENTY of graphics power for the typical employee. They ain't playing QuakeIII at work.

ZERO PCI slots
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You don't need any. It has everything integrated including a PXE compliant 10/100 NIC.

lower speed CPUs
Click to expand...

A 1.9GHz P4 Northwood is slow for the average employee that checks their email and mainly uses mainframe session?

$10 chipsets
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I don't know how much it costs but the i845G chipset is one of the best chipsets out.

and 50W power supplies.
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Who the hell cares? These machines run PERFECT with the power supplies speced out by Compaq/HP.,Who cares if they run with a 2W PSU?

Yes, that's right, not enough enough power to run your laptop.
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See above reply.

Also, I've never heard of a Compaq with a fan on the CPU. Even the Proliant servers don't have em.
Click to expand...
If the CPU is running cool enough not to lock up, that all it needs. Compaq and HP have been doing this for a loooong time and I've never seen a CPU go bad due to heat. And yes, Proliant servers don't have a fan on the heatsink, they have like four freakin' HUGE case fans blowing across ALL the heatsink in the box.

These machines are PERFECT for businesses. The PCs are very nice looking but more so, they are small as hell. The PCs were ordered completely diskless (no floppy, no optical drives) and the USB ports were disabled in the BIOS with the boot order set to hit the HD first. Also the policies that are pushed down to the user lock the system down so tight, they can ONLY use what they need to get the job done. Just the way I like it, no one able to jack with their machines. It just makes my life so much easier. 😀


I'd like to get about five of these machines, stack them up and make a Windows 2000 Server cluster. And it would take up about as much space as a full tower Antec case. 🙂
 
I know what you mean - I love what IBM did... I have a bunch of P2 and P3 machines in this office and most of them don't have CPU fans - just massive heatsinks across the Slot1 cartridge.
I'd take a silent P3 any day. 🙂
 
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