Packard Bell Computer

[polarbear]

My dads friend has a really old Packard Bell computer, the make is Packard Bell Executive MM 923D, it has a P100 and 8 Meg of RAM.

Does anyone know what the maximum speed CPU this Mobo can take? or if theres a site related to this computer at all?

Thanks for your time.

Richard

[OuTpaTienT]

hehe, I doubt very seriously there are any sites dedicated to that computer. Unless you include sites that specialize in various ways to blow-up Packard Bell computers...probably quite a few of those.

But seriously, what do you need to know? The people here can probably help. Just keep in mind that there is not very much you're gonna be able to do with a Packard Bell, especially and old dog like that.

Max speed of the m/b? Why do you ask? Please do not tell me you're thinking of upgrading it.

Although it may seem like it, I'm NOT being a smart-***. I'm being completely serious when I say, you couldn't GIVE this thing away. But it might be handy for you to tinker with and learn. Problem is, PB computers never allow many options for the user to tinker with. Unless you're really bored, it's not worth your time.

[Richard_Cranium72]

A couple of years ago I'd said any computer less than a 266 is worthless. I was WRONG. Since then I've cleaned up a few P100's and am very impressed. The first thing I do is clean the dust out of the machine and install a $12.00 cooling fan and heat sink designed for an AMD k6 cpu. Then I overclock the 100 to 120mhz. This drops the program opening time by 50-80%, guessing that is. Also you'll need some ram, at least 32 meg for Win98 or 16 for Win95. I have seen several of these P100 machines running Win98 quite well, using heavy applications like scanners and printers too. No they aren't gonna work on a on-line gaming experience or some other super heavy programs like CAD. BUT they will do fine for surfing and the general home user who doesn't expect super performance. One thing the older machines do better, according to one IR Tech at work, they(P100's)mostly use EDO ram(72Pin) He said this ram releases memory back to the system faster than SDRAM, I dunno, just a repeat. I do know that my old P100 with Win98 runs most programs just as quick as my HP Pavillion AMD333 w/64meg SDRAM, Visually anyway. Look on the motherboard and get the mfg name and look it up on line and print the jumper specs, come back and we'll help where we can.. lots of luck, DrVette

[Win_98]

Yeap, try P233MMX or cyrix MII 300
both will work in your machine
take out the P100 and replace with either of this cpu since 1.5 is remapped to 3.5 making your computer at least 2.33 to 3 times faster. stick in some 2 16meg simm for a total of 40 meg making it much more useful then it was before and best of all these cpu cost almost nothing these day so what is there to lose?

[jl123]

Here you might want to take a good look at this.

Make sure you read that little paragraph on the top. It will have a link so that you can identify your motherboard and therefore giving you some info on it.


http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/8774/syschart.html

My friend had a Packard Bell Pentium 120 and i did some research about it and found out that it had a socket 5. This means that the maximum cpu was a Pentium 133mhz.

Hope this helps

~Joel


[This message has been edited by jl123 (edited 07-30-2000).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

Intel may be some help too=>> 100- and 133-MHz Pentium® Processor Upgrades
The following information is not a guarantee that this processor will work in your system. It is only suggested as a possible upgrade path. Please check your PC manual or original source of PC purchase if you have any further questions. You may also ask the original source of purchase to give you the name of the motherboard manufacturer for further compatibility information.

Important BIOS Considerations

Recommended Pentium® OverDrive® processor:
BPODPMT66X200
Designed for Socket 7 specification-compliant systems. Some Socket 5 systems can accommodate the 200-MHz Pentium OverDrive processor with MMX™ technology. Upgrades a 100- or 133-MHz Pentium processor-based system to 200 MHz.
BPODPMT66X166
Designed for Socket 5 or Socket 7 specification-compliant systems. Upgrades a 100- or 133-MHz Pentium processor-based system to 166 MHz.
Systems with 296 pin Low Insertion Force (LIF) sockets are not compatible http://www.intel.com/overdrive/upgrade/unbrand/100_133.htm

[Paul Hubrich]

I had an old PB P75 system that I used until fairly recently. When it became too slow, I bought a new computer and used the old PB to experiment with.

I upgraded it with a PNY quick chip 233 Mhz processor (its based on an IDT Winchip II). The fastest I could get the chip up to was 210 Mhz but that still just about tripled the speed. (The MB wouldn't run stable at 66 Mhz bus speed even though it had jumpers to support it.) If you do a search you can still find a number of sites with PB info and support.

Other upgrades that I made to that old machine:

-Replaced the 800 MB HDD with a 10.2GB unit
-Replaced the 4x CD-ROM with a 40X
-Installed an ATI Expert 98 PCI video card
-Upgraded RAM to 48 MB
-Installed a new sound card
-Installed a 56K external modem
-Installed Win 98

After all those upgrades, the machine actually ran pretty well. I let my 6 year old use it for games and such.

Those who say you can't upgrade a PB are mistaken. The real question is whether its worth it. I spent way more on those parts than the computer was worth, but I only did it to learn about computers. I had never opened the case of a computer before I started, but I managed to upgrade every major system on that old PB.

After I had upgraded everything I could, I pulled all the new parts back out and used them to build my first computer from scratch.

[Brangwen]

Conclusion: One should not underestimate the value of an older computer. They usually are good for more than paperweights. I have a PB 120 and a faster P233 that I just finished refurbishing, so I have a decent backup processor. I use DOS version 5.1 of Word Perfect in it, which was at one time my bread 'n butter program of choice.

Brangwen http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

PS: Packard Bell still maintains an active Web presence.

[lost1]

Don't write off that old PB yet, there's a lot you can do with it. I had the PB P100 too, and it was easy to upgrade. The RAM is generic 72-pin simms- so drop 64 megs into it & it'll really perk up. Also, as I recall, it is a Socket 5 CPU, and you can get upgrade processors from PNY, Kingston, Zerus, etc that offer Celeron and AMD K6-2's mounted on socket adapter boards (Socket 7 to Socket 5) that will get you up to around 400MHz at a reasonable cost. They are easy to put in and configure, and work great.
Good luck! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif