upgrading an old p166 compaq

[papasmurf]

I have just gotten a compaq presario 4505 free and I'm plugging in a 256mb stick o corsair I had lying around, I think I'm going to replace my server with this if I can only fit in a faster cpu. I want a k62 at least but every google I have done has turned up only people using k6 233s in their 4550 presarios and nothing more. I need to confirm that a k62 or greater can run in this box without a special upgrade card or anything. I can get a k62 on ebay for 15 bucks or less so this would be a nice cheap upgrade. any ideas if this relic will be upgradable?

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[Spitfire_x86]

Possibly this mobo doesn't support 100 MHz FSB of K6-2. You may have to run K62 @ 66 MHz FSB.

Crashman will surely know.

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[Crashman]

I have some good news and some bad. The good news is, your board will work with a K6-2 400. The bad? It won't work right.

The K6-2 offers a 2x to 6x multiplier conversion, and 66.6 *6 is 400. And the thing will fire up, but it won't run right. Running them at 2.8v (Pentium MMX voltage) hasn't been a problem for me, but the board just doesn't seem to work right with the K6-2 installed. I've tried just about everything.

Another problem occurs that on desktop style cases the CPU is located under the floppy drive, making the installation of any midsized cooler impossible.

Your best choice for processor would be the Pentium 233 MMX. If your board is pre-MMX, setting the 233 as a Pentium 100 will result in it running at 233MHz. The 1.5x multiplier is automatically converted to 3.5x by the CPU. BIOS won't think so but you can confirm the speed with CPU-Z in windows.

Sorry, but hey, a 233MMX isn't that bad for such an old system.

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[Spitfire_x86]

If he removes the floppy drive?

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[Crashman]

It's actually a solid cage that holds the flopyy and hard drive. At least that's how it was on the 4000 series.

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[papasmurf]

what do you mean it won't run right? is there data corruption, crashes, what? I neeeeeed a k62 400 lol the p166 is an mmx and the board does seem to support many different voltages. Cooling isn't an issue as I intend to yank it out of this cramped case anyways. the board seems to have a slot for cpu cache maybe this is an issue with the cache on the k6 being incompatible with what the board wants...

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[papasmurf]

Core Voltage, Input/Output Voltage , Bus Speed, Clock multiplier
AMD-K6-2/400 2.2V 3.3V 100 MHz 4x

Intel Pentium 166mmx - Core voltage 2.8 I/O voltage 3.3 Bus speed 66mhz x Multiplier 2.5

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[Crashman]

Heheh, d00d, OK OK, listen:

My boards didn't work right with the K6-2 400. They would be very "choppy" and perform worse than with a Pentium 233. I can only guess it's a BIOS issue.

Anyway, you're welcome to try it. I've sold MANY Pentium MMX systems upgraded to K6-2's, running at 2.8v, they ran for years like that.

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[Crashman]

OMG d00d, I've told you in HOW MANY post over the past years that the K6-2 from around 350MHz up had the magical 2x=6x multiplier conversion?

Gawd you guys just don't seem to listen, I tell you to run it at 6x66.6 and you cry "But it's supposed to be 4x100".

I tell you "If your board doesn't support 100MHz bus, forget that and set it at 6x66.6" and you again cry "But it's supposed to be 4x100".

I tell you "If your board doesn't support 100MHz bus, you CAN'T run 4x100" and you say "Do you mean this CPU won't work?"

OMG you guys suck, I'm outta here...just kidding :tongue:

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[papasmurf]

lol that was just quick copy paste to put the voltages in front of me, I don't give a rats arse what the fsb is or if the voltage is .2v higher lol more stability I say. I found a p200 mmx and I'll just be using that I guess. wonder if there a multiplier jumper on the board or some way to move it up to 233...

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[papasmurf]

one more q crash, how much ram will this mobo allow? it has one 168pin slot and I was hoping to squeeze in that 256mb cas2 stick..... if I cant eek performance out of it with a faster cpu I'll find another way.

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[Crashman]

I already told you 1.5x is the same as 3.5x for MMX processors. So you set it as a Pentium 100 and it works at 233. You'll want to look around for jumper settings under the lid or something as it might have the 3.5x setting documented, otherwise use the 1.5x setting.

OK, so for Pentium MMX processors, 1.5x=3.5x
And for K6-2 400's, etc, 2.0x=6.0x

Simple enough right?

Shouldn't be a jumper, it should be a dip switch.

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[Crashman]

That board has the "AMD" chipset on it right? Guess what, the AMD chipset is just an old VIA chipset, I believe the MVP. Taks a wild guess at what types of RAM it supports and toss some in. You do have spare modules right?

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[papasmurf]

actually it's the old intel pci set

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[Crashman]

VX? Check the northbridge. HX was EDO only (yes, there were EDO DIMMs), TX could use medium density RAM, VX used super low density RAM.

If it's VX I have more bad news for you, but I'll tell you after you figure it out.

I think the "AMD" chipset was on their SIMM boards.

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[mozzartusm]

I may have what your looking for. I have a pile of old compaq's laying around. In fact, I have been turning alot of them into firewall's. Don't know how good of a firewall it makes, but the software and instructions are on cnet. Anyway, let me know if I can help!

 

[mozzartusm]

Yep, got a K6 2 right in front of me. I havent read through all of the replys to your question, so I may be repeating something you already know. I guess the answer is yes, the K6 2 does work. Unless I have totally misunderstood the question I have one that does work with the setup your describing. Let me be perfectly clear about one thing. I am a NEWBIE, so I may be off in my own little world with this one. The processor im looking at is a AMD-K6 2 500Mhz 2.2v/3.3v If this is the one your talking about, let me know.

 

[papasmurf]

it's vx so lay on the bad news. also the motherboard says it's a "Sniper Motherboard" if the brand does anything for you. I googled sniper and found nothing about it.

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[papasmurf]

you put a 500mhz k62 in a 4500 series? how does it work?

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[mozzartusm]

I didnt put it in the system, like I said I am very new to most of this. I am fortunate in that I have a very good friend that is over the Unix system for a very large Corp. They let me come in about 2 times a year and load up their old stuff as long I donate half of it to a local university. Bottom line is that it was already set up that way. Im sure someone switched out the processor along the way. All the other systems have intel's. I will try to answer any questions that you have, just be very specific in what you need to know and how I can find the info. I havent done much with that computer, but as far as I can tell it doesnt have any obvious problems.

 

[Crashman]

Bad news: memory density limit is 2MB/chip, 32MB/slot. I have 2 of those modules here, both rated PC100.

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[endyen]

Are you sure? I thought that series could take up to 64 meg sticks.
Papa, I think I had good success changing to a K6-2 500 chip. You use the 6X and set the fsb to 85. It was a while ago though, but the jumpers were well marked on the mobo.

 

[Crashman]

Well, you COULD at one time, but it required those oddball 32-chip double-height modules that were rare back then, and impossible to find now.

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[Crashman]

Oh, and the same chipset DID support 64MB EDO DIMMs, but many boards only supported SDRAM in those slots.

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[papasmurf]

well crap
it has 16mb built in and only one slot that puts me at a maximum of 48mb that's just not enough. that limits me to windows 98se or linux and doesn't give me a lot of things to do with it.

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