DESPERATELY need solution to cpu confusion.PLEASE

[Intrepid4]

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I am REALLY looking hard for some educated advice and I know that I've come to the right place. My problem is this.
I have an 440bx chipset with a modified asus motherboard. Currently I have a katmai slot 1 450. I really want to upgrade to a 800 mhz coppermine P3 but HP told me that my motherboard didn't support any coppermine chips. I was therefore limited to a 600 because that is the last katmai that Intel produced. I was told however that I have jumpers to support an 800 mhz cpu. HP has been of no help whatsoever in all of this.
My big question is why?? is it the lower voltage requirements? Is it the smaller onboard cache?? A while back I noticed a post from another user in the same position that I am in. He said that he had found a converter that allowed him to work around the constraints and use an 800 mhz coppermine.
Can anyone verify that such a thing exists?? Does anyone have familiarity with this and can you recommend me to an online site to buy one and the steps involved in installing one??
I know I am asking a lot but I would really appreciate any advice you have and thank you for helping a newbie in a dire situation out. I am really grateful.

 

[Guest]

Asus mobo from HP? I didnt know that. But I know that the original Asus P2BF supports Coppermine, one of my friens just plugged it in. I you could borrow one, you could try it.

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Engage!

 

[Crashman]

I had an HP version of the Asus MEB-VM motherboard. Plugged in a PIII-750 and POOF! No more motherboard. Also, the HP version did not include the clock crystall or overclocking jumpers. And it had a different brand of bios to insure incompatability with Asus bios!

 

[Guest]

My big question is why?? is it the lower voltage requirements?

I just ran into the same thing. My Supermicro BX board is limited by the voltage regulators they used until the beginning of 1999, so it cannot support the Copermines and thus has a 600 mhz cap. They did say that I can have it modified by sending it in, so I'm guessing it is just the voltage and a simple procedure.

 

[Guest]

I had some experience installing Coppermine chips on my and friends ASUS P2B systems. Assuming you already have the bus speed set to 100 mhz, your problem MAY come in the form of voltage supply. While my newer P2B was able to supply proper voltage to the chip, at least 2 of my friends with an older version P2B were unable to add the Coppermine chip because theirs could not. We all used the same Celeron 566 (Coppermine) and Asus socket adapter.

Most "slocket" adapters for socket 370 to Slot1 manipulate the abilities of the onboard voltage regulator, but do not contain their own regulator. They are limited to the voltages supplied by the mobo no matter what voltage selection you use on the slocket (usually lower than the motherboard can supply on older boards).

Anyway - not knowing the exact model/revision of your motherboard, this could be a rather difficult undertaking. Maybe sell your system and use the proceeds to finance a newer system if you are in a pinch to upgrade? I would not risk killing your board/CPU or worse when your system still has some cash value to someone looking for an entry level system.

 

[Intrepid4]

Thank you all for offering your time and advice.
I have since found out some interesting things but so far still no solution.

The exact revision of my asus - hp modified motherboard is: P2BVE

When I checked the asus website for the closest match, it was the P2B and the P2BVM. According to the site, with the newest bios updates, both boards are capable of handling coppermine P3's. This has gotten my hopes up somewhat.

The problem is that I still don't know how much different the hp P2BVE is from the normal asus boards such as the P2B. I am afraid that if I try the bios update that I downloaded for the P2B, it might not be compatible and might completely destroy the bios and I will never be able to boot up again. Is this likely? Would I be able to return to the HP bios should things not work out?

More questions and few answers. I am really starting to hate first party computer manufacturers because of the limitations that they impose upon you to make more money!