About three weeks ago I received the Powerleap iP3/T adapter and Celeron 1.2GHz Tualatin kit direct from the manufacturer. The kit also included a nice, thin CPU cooler and the sticker “warrantee void if broken” across the edge of the CPU to the socket. Well, time to put the thing in and test it out.
First things first, the motherboard, not listed on Powerleap’s site, was an Epox BX3 rev .5. So I plugged in the kit, and low and behold it worked! But all was not right in Tualatin land. I tried clocking the thing up by a measily 5MHz FSB and it would lock up. I thought maybe I had a dud processor, but just in case, I tried modifying it to 1.675v by wining in Vid2. No go.
Thinking I might have a quirky board, I tried a Soyo SY-BA6+III. Again no overclocking was possible, and the Soyo didn’t like my 256MB Crucial Cas2 PC133 DIMMs, so back to the Epox.
Further testing revealed that this adapter was supplying only 1.3v to the CPU! For those who don’t know, the Tualatin runs at 1.475v! I tried the 1.675 mod on the CPU again, still no go, the adapter still supplied 1.30v! By now I’m starting to realize that this is indeed a problem with the adapter. Large amounts of heat are being released from the back of the card in normal use.
I try wiring in Vid 3. This in fact does work, giving me 1.70v (since none of the other Vid pins seemed to be connected on the card). But the CPU and card are experiencing heat lockups. Finally I try Vid 2, which provides 1.50v. Everthing is top notch. The CPU runs at 110FSB fine. 124FSB for a few minutes before the heat monster returns.
Thinking it was a problem with the thermal conductant inside the CPU heat spreader, I removed the heat spreader and applied thermal paste directly to the core. Try to reboot, nothing. Check the voltage, it’s only at 0.2v! Try removing the pin jumper from the CPU, it fires up at 100FSB/1.30v again. So I try raising it again, and get 0.2v again. Try it at stock, just to have something to use, the adapter finally gave up the ghost.
To test the adapter, I tried a Celeron 500, using the proper on-card jumper for Celerons. No boot, check voltage, and it reads 1.26v. So much for Powerleap, this thing was obviously defective when I got it (at 1.30v for a 1.475v processor). I’ll let you know what they have to say about this defect, if they own up to it and support their product, or give me shake off.
1.) A good company will accept responsibility for their defects and make them right, regardless of stickers.
2.) A bad company will write off their customers for any excuse they can find, without owning up to their responsibility to the customer. I wouldn't blame them if I burned up a CPU. But their adapter in this case did not function as it is designed to.
Let’s hope that Powerleap is of type 1, so I can continue to recommend their products!
What's the frequency, Kenneth?
First things first, the motherboard, not listed on Powerleap’s site, was an Epox BX3 rev .5. So I plugged in the kit, and low and behold it worked! But all was not right in Tualatin land. I tried clocking the thing up by a measily 5MHz FSB and it would lock up. I thought maybe I had a dud processor, but just in case, I tried modifying it to 1.675v by wining in Vid2. No go.
Thinking I might have a quirky board, I tried a Soyo SY-BA6+III. Again no overclocking was possible, and the Soyo didn’t like my 256MB Crucial Cas2 PC133 DIMMs, so back to the Epox.
Further testing revealed that this adapter was supplying only 1.3v to the CPU! For those who don’t know, the Tualatin runs at 1.475v! I tried the 1.675 mod on the CPU again, still no go, the adapter still supplied 1.30v! By now I’m starting to realize that this is indeed a problem with the adapter. Large amounts of heat are being released from the back of the card in normal use.
I try wiring in Vid 3. This in fact does work, giving me 1.70v (since none of the other Vid pins seemed to be connected on the card). But the CPU and card are experiencing heat lockups. Finally I try Vid 2, which provides 1.50v. Everthing is top notch. The CPU runs at 110FSB fine. 124FSB for a few minutes before the heat monster returns.
Thinking it was a problem with the thermal conductant inside the CPU heat spreader, I removed the heat spreader and applied thermal paste directly to the core. Try to reboot, nothing. Check the voltage, it’s only at 0.2v! Try removing the pin jumper from the CPU, it fires up at 100FSB/1.30v again. So I try raising it again, and get 0.2v again. Try it at stock, just to have something to use, the adapter finally gave up the ghost.
To test the adapter, I tried a Celeron 500, using the proper on-card jumper for Celerons. No boot, check voltage, and it reads 1.26v. So much for Powerleap, this thing was obviously defective when I got it (at 1.30v for a 1.475v processor). I’ll let you know what they have to say about this defect, if they own up to it and support their product, or give me shake off.
1.) A good company will accept responsibility for their defects and make them right, regardless of stickers.
2.) A bad company will write off their customers for any excuse they can find, without owning up to their responsibility to the customer. I wouldn't blame them if I burned up a CPU. But their adapter in this case did not function as it is designed to.
Let’s hope that Powerleap is of type 1, so I can continue to recommend their products!
What's the frequency, Kenneth?