Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
FWIW, Intel-made motherboards are the best documented in the business, and the
technical updates for Intel boards provide explicit details explaining revisions
of boards, chipsets, BIOSes and supported CPUs as a board goes through its life
cycle. Not a perfect solution, but this makes it somewhat easier to figure out
whether a given CPU upgrade will work.
With a lot of Intel motherboard manufacturing shifted to contract electronics
manufacturers like Foxconn, unless the motherboard has a clear AA sticker on it
to identify its Intel design and branding, there is no longer the assurance that
a Dell mobo carries the somewhat hidden Intel brand.
Asus cautions people against using its generic BIOSes on name-brand (e.g. HPaq)
boards for several reasons. Contractually, they may have an obligation to do
so. Flashing an Asus board with a generic BIOS voids any and all warranties
from the name-brand manufacturer.
Anyone who decides to flash a Dell-branded BIOS board with a generic Intel BIOS,
needs to be prepared to accept the consequences. The board may end up dead as a
doornail. There may be a BIOS recovery procedure which can be used to get the
Dell-branded BIOS back onto the board. I would also suggest a side-by-side
PHYSICAL comparison of a board with a Dell BIOS and a board with an Intel
generic BIOS. If the chipsets are exactly the same and the board layout exactly
the same, the generic BIOS is likely to work. Dell makes this all more
difficult than, say, Gateway, who simply add Gateway splash screen and bitmap
and change the BIOS ID of the generic Intel BIOS. I've had some success
flashing a generic Intel BIOS onto an ex-Gateway board... Ben Myers
On 22 Aug 2004 21:19:02 -0700, mikengroups@yahoo.com (miken) wrote:
>"Sepulchral®" <see@mysig.yousombeech> wrote in message news:<Oq4Wc.34$4o.6@fed1read01>...
>> Ok, I have a Dimension 4500 with an Intel 845E mobo and a P4 1.8ghz. The
>> fastest cpu that will work with this mobo is a P4 3.06. I flashed the bios
>> to the latest version, from A02 to A04, dated 10-14-02. When I install the
>> new cpu it works but runs extremely slow. I put the old cpu back in and
>> everything is fine. The new cpu shows up in the bios and in WinXP as being a
>> P4 3.06. I'm thinking at this point that the newest bios from Dell(which is
>> 2 years old) doesn't support this cpu even though the mobo should in theory.
>> I don't think I can use an Intel bios, or can I? I don't know if I'm going
>> to have to change out the Dell mobo or if maybe the cpu is bad or what? Any
>> ideas?
>
>If you check the Dell forums you will find that some Dell 4500 owners
>have the exact same problem with the 3.06 and others don't. I have not
>found any solution. I don't know what will happen if you flash the
>newer Intel BIOS for the 845E chipset, or whether you could flash it
>back to the Dell A04 BIOS if the Intel BIOS messed up your system. The
>ASUS site cautions against using their BIOS updates for OEM versions
>of the motherboard. If you get it to work, please let me know how!
>
>By the way, when exactly did you buy your 4500? I bought mine when
>they first came out in June 2002. Maybe there was some change in the
>motherboard after that.
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