Asus p2b d

[elleon30033]

need a little advice from a member with 'experience'. I say that cause this mobo is OLD. Anyway, its a dual processor currently running 2 400mhz pII's. I know nada about slot 1 pentium processors so i need advice about what is the fastest processor this board can handle...slot 1 processor? ie. could i running a p3 with a fsb of 133 downclocked to 100 fsb? Did anyone have success with this years ago? lol....any advice would help before i blow the money on ebay on processors the board can't handle...also, as long as i match the models and speeds, are there any other gotcha's to worry about with the dual setup. Your advice sincerely appreciated...oh and hello to the gang:t

[Midknyte]

don't bother with 133 fsb cpus since they have a lower multiplier for any give clock speed. IE. an 800E is 8x100, while an 800EB is 6x133. You would end up with a 600 instead of 800.

looks like you can run up to a 1.0G (10x100). make sure to update your bios to the appropriate version.
http://www.asus.com/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

General PIII info:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/index2.htm

dual processing considerations:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-007877.htm

[elleon30033]

Midknyte, thanks a mill for the links and advice. Now i gotta figure out where on earth i'm gonna find two 1 gig 100mhz fsb w/ 512k cache pIII's.....hmmmm, why the deafening silence?:(

[Midknyte]

You're better off getting a fast single cpu and board unless you can find the PIIIs for dirty cheap.

[elleon30033]

Midknyte, point taken. I have a 2800 barton for the windows puter, this is my linux system i'm thinking of trying to upgrade....i keep trying to get dual opterons outta my head...thought maybe this upgrade might soothe the savage beast. Your input has been very helpful and welcomed. Maybe someone with 1 gig pIII's will see this and offload em....what's the harm in wishing...TY takecare.....;)

[lptech]

elleon30033-

Your particular motherboard can support beyond the 400-MHz CPU pair that you've got. The only problem is that any Slot-1 CPU that you install must be running on the 100-MHz FSB. Intel manufactured P-III Slot-1 with 100-MHz bus support all the way up to 1-GHz speed it is labeled P-III/1000E (1-GHz) with 256K cache which was accessed at every cycle!

These CPUs must be bought as sets with identical stepping or it won't run correctly in dual-processor mode. You also have to update your BIOS to the very latest version in order for it to function at 1-GHz speed.

At this point, it is probably more cost effective to buy a whole new mobo and CPU combo like Midknyte had stated. But it is not impossible to upgrade all the way up to the 1-GHz speed.

LPTECH

[elleon30033]

thanks for the advise LP. Did you mean 256k cache on the pIII's? In reading the links Midknyte pointed me to i was under the impression they had to be 512k and that is what i told the local shop to be on the look out for....Please let me know if i was mistaken and thanks. The other intangible is that i was hoping i could replace my pII's in my linux box without having to lose any of my current distros.....i'm running Suse 9 and 9.1 and redhat 9 on this box and i'm talking months and months of work to get it where it is now... I guess if i haven't located some 800mhz + p3s by december, i will start to think new board and processors afterall..... If anybody sees the p3's for sale anywhere, let me know:D

[Crashman]

I could provide a lot of answers, but better yet, you can read this:
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/rscheidegger/p2b_procupgrade_faq.html

[elleon30033]

Crashman, whoa that article was extensive. Thanks much. I feel like a dual pentium slot1 expert now....much appreciated. Got a line on some 850 mhz, won't know for sure if i can getem till thursday.....keep your fingers crossed for me guys. By the way, with linux, can you just install the new processors and the operating system will adjust or am i gonna have to reinstall...just a thought.

[Crashman]

The only concern with running dual Coppermine core PIII's in your system is whether your board runs VRM 8.2 or 8.4. Coppermines work straight off in VRM 8.4 boards, but need to be modified to 1.80v detection (or higher) in order to be accepted by VRM 8.2 boards.

So I assume you've already read and confirmed your board uses VRM 8.4. Otherwise, the easiest solution would be 2 slot-1 voltage-adjustable adapters, and 2 socket 370 PIII 850's.

[elleon30033]

Crashman, thanks again. I missed the the board pcb vrm issue, totally forgot about it. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be poppin the case open and taking a look in the next few days. Will let you know what i find. My understanding is that i need "P2B D 1.06 1013" pcb revision and bios. Right now, I'm scared to look.....:D

[elleon30033]

Good news and bad news. The good news is the p2b d board is rev 1.06 so it will take a pentium 3 up to one gig, the bad news is the person i was gonna buy the 850's from pulled out. I guess they think they can find another board for it. The old one is toast....so (sigh) back to ebay.....the hunt continues...thanks for all the advise and assistance....

[Crashman]

The 1000E was a rare processor, 100MHz bus, 10x multiplier, I've only seen slot 1 but that's whay you wanted anyway. Compgeeks used to sell them for $95 off and on when they'd get them, and people would buy them all up within a couple days and sell them for $200 each on ebay (ebay buyers tend to be suckers).

[G Ray88]

Might check here: http://www.computersurplusoutlet.com/showproduct.asp?C=4&s=15
Good Luck:)

[Crashman]

Terrible site. They used to actually buy parts from other sites like Compgeeks and sell them at large markups

Check it out, the fastest CPU they have for his machine is a PIII 600 and they want $80 for it! Compgeeks has the same CPU for $40!http://www.compgeeks.com/products.asp?cat=CPU

[Crashman]

I just realized Compgeeks also has the FASTER version of the PIII 600 (the 600E) for $24. That also works in his board. The only reason the older version has a premium is because it's compatable with VRM 8.2 boards, while the newer one isn't.http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=PIII600ES1-2&cat=CPU

[G Ray88]

Crashman, thanks for the info we didn't know that, we will be using the compgeeks site. Good Luck:eek:
It did seem that the prices were a little high.

[Crashman]

Of course I have no official confirmation that Computer Surplus Outlet gets parts from Compgeeks, it's just that I've noticed several times:
1.) Compgeeks has a couple hundred of a part at a bargain basement price.
2.) The next day Compgeeks runs out
3.) Checking Computer Surplus Outlet, I find they just got the part in and are selling it for 2x the price of Compgeeks.

I've seen this happen about a dozen times, logic tells me the most likely reason is that Computer Surplus Outlet is buying all of Compgeeks stock on certain items.

Funny thing, Compgeeks offers special discounts to such buyers, so not only is the price doubled from what Compgeeks was charging, but it's often closer to 3x what Computer Surplus Outlet actually paid.

[elleon30033]

Ok, I am paying an obscene amount for technology this old but the dual p3 850's are on the truck and should arrive on friday the 10 of dec. Thanks so much for all of the advice and suggestions...I'll let you know if it was worth it in a later post.

[elleon30033]

uh yeah, its a lot faster. Plopped the two 850mhz p3's in tonigt. Booted up, bios detected, linux was like oh i see, no prob. and all is well in the world. Thanks again all