A7M266 cpu upgrade

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <11hcktle7feiee3@corp.supernews.com>, "Gerald Preston"
<jwp@ont.com> wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Currently I have 1.4 GHz processor. Looking at my user's manual I can
> upgrade to 1.8, is this my max option or can I upgrade even higher and what
> group of processors and setting would work.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry

On the support site, there is a cpusupport page. This is the official
answer.

http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpu_support_right...

But five minutes with a search engine, will show there is much
hackery about:

http://www.geocities.com/trats102002/a7mwire.html

The idea is, it may be possible to run a processor at FSB266,
yet crank the multiplier up to get a higher core speed. The
geocities page uses wire tricks to set the multiplier, as
apparently the BIOS on your board is incapable of setting
the multiplier. There is a note at the bottom of the page
that CPUMSR can also be used, but it requires one extra
bit to be set with WPCREDIT.

Mobile Barton processors can be purchased from Newegg.com
and ncix.com (in Canada). On the Newegg CPU page, set the
"Series" field to "Athlon XP Mobile". The XP-M is used
in this case, as the multiplier is unlocked, without needing
to cut any bridges.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?submit=PR...

Whether you go the official Asus route, or go crazy with a
Mobile and CPUMSR, be aware that the architecture of your
board is limited by the use of the PCI bus to connect the
Northbridge to the Southbridge. This tends to be a bottleneck
on old boards, in terms of I/O. Some later S462 boards have
higher speed proprietary busses between Northbridge and
Southbridge, and they run a bit smoother.

You shouldn't have too much trouble pushing an AthlonXP-M to
133x16=2100MHz, which is pretty close to a 3200+. My mobile
is rock solid at 2200Mhz, and will do 2400MHz (but I don't
leave it there) on my A7N8X-E Deluxe.

Finding a Palomino might mean looking on Ebay, while going the
(unlocked) Mobile route, means more of a learning exercise.
If you want to go with the Mobile, spend a few days researching
the pitfalls first.

Have fun,
Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 05:50:49 GMT, nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote:

>In article <11hcktle7feiee3@corp.supernews.com>, "Gerald Preston"
><jwp@ont.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi!
>>
>> Currently I have 1.4 GHz processor. Looking at my user's manual I can
>> upgrade to 1.8, is this my max option or can I upgrade even higher and what
>> group of processors and setting would work.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jerry
>
>On the support site, there is a cpusupport page. This is the official
>answer.
>
>http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpu_support_right...
>
>But five minutes with a search engine, will show there is much
>hackery about:
>
>http://www.geocities.com/trats102002/a7mwire.html
>
>The idea is, it may be possible to run a processor at FSB266,
>yet crank the multiplier up to get a higher core speed. The
>geocities page uses wire tricks to set the multiplier, as
>apparently the BIOS on your board is incapable of setting
>the multiplier. There is a note at the bottom of the page
>that CPUMSR can also be used, but it requires one extra
>bit to be set with WPCREDIT.
>
>Mobile Barton processors can be purchased from Newegg.com
>and ncix.com (in Canada). On the Newegg CPU page, set the
>"Series" field to "Athlon XP Mobile". The XP-M is used
>in this case, as the multiplier is unlocked, without needing
>to cut any bridges.
>
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?submit=PR...
>
>Whether you go the official Asus route, or go crazy with a
>Mobile and CPUMSR, be aware that the architecture of your
>board is limited by the use of the PCI bus to connect the
>Northbridge to the Southbridge. This tends to be a bottleneck
>on old boards, in terms of I/O. Some later S462 boards have
>higher speed proprietary busses between Northbridge and
>Southbridge, and they run a bit smoother.
>
>You shouldn't have too much trouble pushing an AthlonXP-M to
>133x16=2100MHz, which is pretty close to a 3200+. My mobile
>is rock solid at 2200Mhz, and will do 2400MHz (but I don't
>leave it there) on my A7N8X-E Deluxe.
>
>Finding a Palomino might mean looking on Ebay, while going the
>(unlocked) Mobile route, means more of a learning exercise.
>If you want to go with the Mobile, spend a few days researching
>the pitfalls first.

Finding a Palomino definitely means looking on eBay, and it can be a
little dicey making sure that one is being sold a true Palomino-core
CPU rather than the much more common Thoroughbred 2100+. If you
really MUST upgrade the CPU, and it's possible to locate a Palomino
2100+, I think that's the way to go. My A7M266 is constrained too
much by FSB and RAM speed to go to the trouble of fudging the
installation of a faster CPU. I think that when you exceed the
1.73GHz XP 2100+ on this motherboard, you've passed the point of
diminishing returns.

eBay does list one Palomino 2100+ as of this writing, but it's
generating a lot of bidding activity, and I think it will eventually
sell for a lot more than its original cost (this particular one comes
with an A7M266 thrown in). So, while you can get Palomino 2100+ CPUs,
you'll probably pay so much that it can be difficult to justify,
considering the speed of the computer you'd be left with. I did this
upgrade a few years ago, when the Palomino was still available in
retail. I'm still using the computer for some daily tasks, and I have
to tell you that I'm not sure the speed increase in common
applications was readily discernible. I don't think it makes a lot of
sense to be paying that much to upgrade a thoroughly obsolete A7M266.
It might have at some point in time but not in 2005 -- my 2-cent value
judgment.

Ron