Upgrade M577 w/K6-2/300 to K6-2/550

[Nizeguy]

I currently have the following system:

PCChips M577
AMD K6/2-300
64Mb PC100 (one stick)
Award Bios v4.51PG
Bios Release 7/11/98

Not sure what else you might need for info.

What I want to do is get a K6-2/550 chip and add another 64Mb PC100. What I need to know is if there is anything I need to do to the BIOS and jumper settings on the board. I've put several systems together but the chip has always come installed on the board and I have never just upgraded the chip itself. This time I'm trying to save a few bucks and save the current board. BTW - I have not had any real problems with this M577 board even though I read peole "complaining" about it.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!!

Rich

[Peter M]

You should use the latest BIOS 1999/03/06, and stick with a K6-2/500. Using a /550 brings a negligible performance improvement for a lot more money - and you need to keep in mind that the mainboard's CPU voltage regulators can't feed infinite power: The /550 speed grade, running at 2.3V, also requires quite a bit more current than the /500 (the /533 is not usable, no 97 MHz bus speed selection).

However, if your M577 is v3.1, using a /550 should be safe, since these have stronger voltage regulators. With a v3.0 or older, stick with a /500.

In case you want to try anyway: Any revision of the board can produce the 2.3V needed for the /550 speed grade: Close A and B on the voltage jumper block, leave C and D open.

Many people are using K6-2/500 with these boards, with great success.

Regards, Peter

[Ricardo]

Hi Rich ! As Peter told you this board is capable to run without any problem a K6-2/500 and with security to overclock to, minimum, 550. In my case I running one at 600 using 2.5 volts and a good cooling system.
If you don´t mind to not squeeze every Mhz from your processor, buy one 500 and put to run at 550. It´s enough to put the multiplier jumper in 5.5x and FSB at 100 Mhz. The voltage must be something between 2.3 and 2.4 without any problem of overheating, since you use a good cooler and thermal paste between the cpu and the heatsink. About the Bios, again Peter is right, you must flash your MoBo to use the latest Bios, 990306S.ROM, that could be achieved in the PCCHIPS site(the fastest is www.pcchips.nl).
One last thing, this Mobo gave me a very good performance with a lower price and I never had any problem to run with it.
Best luck

Ricardo