About the ASUSS P3B-F i440BX...

[Guest]

Hi, my board is an ASUS P3B-F i440BX. I would like to know if someone of you know how high I can upgrade the CPU?

I currently have a SLOT1 PentiumIII 450MHz CPU. In the documentation of the board, it says it can run at 800MHz and more. But how much more?

I wish I could upgrade to 1000MHz (or more?), but I guess I would have to use a converter card so I could buy a CPU of another Socket type. Because SLOT1 CPUs are discontinued.

So, what would be the best choice of Converter/CPU I could get, in order to get maximum performance from my old board?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Crashman]

Any FC-PGA type Soket 370 adapter of good quality will do, even the cheap ones. In order to use the 1000EB, you need PC133 SDRAM and a reasonably good video card.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

ok cool,

what do you mean by " In order to use the 1000EB", what's EB? (sorry about that..

My video card is currently a Matrox G400 Max 32MB, but I'll get a new Geforce2 soon.

I currently have 256MB of RAM
- 1 DIMM 128MB 100MHz
- 1 DIMM 128MB 133MHz

am I going to be ok ?
thanks!

 

[Crashman]

OK, the 1000EB is the most common version of the PIII, it has a 133MHz bus speed. In order to use that bus speed, you need PC133 memory. While your board can reduce the divider of the PCI bus from 1/3 to 1/4 of the main bus to keep your PCI devices at the proper 33MHz, your AGP will remain at 2/3 the CPU bus speed, which makes it 89MHz instead of 66MHz. Most cards can handle this, but some can't.

Their was also a low production PIII 1000E, with a 100MHz bus speed. It performs worse than the 1000EB and, do to rarity, cost much more.
There was also the rare PIII 900E, which is almost impossible to find.
The fastest regular production PIII to use the 100MHz bus is the PIII 850E.

The only PIII Coppermine processors available in two different bus speeds for the same clock speed were the 600E/600EB, 800E/800EB, and 1000E/1000EB, where the "B" stands for 133MHz bus.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[camieabz]

Couldn't he do the 700E @ 993MHz?

Perhaps not with the PC-100 stick, but he'd have to ditch it to get an EB CPU anyway.

<b><font color=blue>~ Oh flower of Scotland...da da de de dum dum doo doo.~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[Guest]

ok, thanks a lot CrashMan

So I guess I'll have to get a new PC-133 stick if I want maximum performance..

To camieabz:
going with the 700E @ 993MHz, would I need some kind of expensive liquid-hydrogen cooling system? I'm not really looking for an overclocking solution, but if it works with the retail fan, could be interresting..

<i>sachoben</i>

 

[camieabz]

Heh!

I've never done it myself. Crashman has though. I know it doesn't require liquid hydrogen cooling, but I think it may require a half decent HSF and decent memory.

<b><font color=blue>~ Oh flower of Scotland...da da de de dum dum doo doo.~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[Guest]

ok, I just came back from the computer store, they cannot have the 700E anymore..

here's what they can get:
P3 866 133 - 227.00$
P3 933 133 - 242.00$
P3 1000 133 - 306.00$
P3 1130 133 - 290.00$
P3 1200 133 - 351.00$

(prices are in CAD $, hehe
<A HREF="http://cdramtech.com/fr/produits/pieces/prices/xcin.htm" target="_new">Link to the price list</A>

the 1130 is less expensive than the 1000, but will my ASUS P3B-F be able to support it? The version of my BIOS is the latest final version 1006, but I know there's a BETA 1008. I wonder if I would need to install this BETA..

thanks

<i>sachoben</i>

 

[Crashman]

You need the Coppermine version, the latest Tualatin version is incompatable. Easiest way to tell is look on the box (or CPU if it's not boxed) at the voltage. 1.75v=Coppermine, 1.475v=Tualatin. Earlier Coppermines were available at these speeds with as little as 1.65v, so anything from 1.65v up will work.

The reason the 1.13GHz version is cheaper is because it was originally the slowest Tualatin, while the 1.0GHz is the fastest Coppermine.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Crashman]

700E@133FSB=933EB. Same CPU.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

ok ok,
so if I get it right, the fastest Coppermine CPU I can get that would fit my board is the 1000EB.

cool, I guess my choice will be between the 1000EB and the 933EB. Do you think the 67MHz gap would really make a difference? With the 64$ difference, I could get a new PC-133 stick

well thanks a lot, I've learned a lot about CPU and MB today

<i>sachoben</i>

 

[Crashman]

The performance difference between a 933 (all 933 are EB) and 1000EB is small.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Scout]

Ummm... at these prices, if I were you, I'd get a Celeron instead. They're around $70 and are the same chip as the PIII CuMine except for the L2 cache and it'd be a lot faster than your 450 PII if you got a 1 Gig version.

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[Guest]

oh, yeah I see, the prices for Celeron are cut in half..

and you're right, the only differences I see on intel's web site are the L2 cache and the FSB. "128 KB unified, non-blocking, 100MHz FSB" VS "integrated 256KB Advance Transfer Cache, 133MHz FSB"

The highest PIII I can get is the 1000EB because I'm limitted by my board (must be Coppermine). Do I get the same kind of limitation with Celerons, or could I get the 1.3GHz version?

If we compare the PIII 1GHz to the Celeron 1GHz, the PIII sure is faster (due to cache and fsb). But can the Celeron 1.3GHz outperform it? Or maybe the price difference is not worth the performance difference.

Thanks

PS. I mostly run 3D games on my computer and often have to build c++ applications.


<i>sachoben</i>

 

[Scout]

Well, you gotta be careful. Like the other poster said, your board can only use the older CuMine Celerons, not the new Tualtin version, and I believe they only took the older CuMine Celerons to 1.1 GHz.

As for performance, I suspect the large Cache and faster FSB speed of the 1000EB would outperform even the 1.3 Tualtin Celeron. Now bear in mind though, your P3B-F really wouldn't be the best for that 1000EB chip due to it's official support of only the 100 MHz. FSB speed. You CAN put it to 133, but as one of the other posters pointed out, you push your video card pretty hard in doing that. The Celeron's on the other hand are made for the 100 MHz. FSB speed and you can push them a bit more from there.

In terms of bang for the buck, I've always thought the Celeron's to be much better buys than the PIII's... Unless you have some application that you know will REALLY benefit from the larger Cache, go with the Celeron.

By the way, the other difference in the cache between the PIII and Celeron is not only the size, but the Celeron is only 4 way set associative and the PIII is 8 way set associative. I'm not an expert on what all that does for you, but it's just another difference between the two chips.

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[Guest]

ok, thanks everyone

I think my final choice is the Celeron 1GHz. More than half the price of the PIII 1GHz, and I won't have to upgrade my RAM or worry about my video card.

again, thanks


<i>sachoben</i>

 

[Guest]

dammnn!!
I just got home with my new processor, Celeron 1GHz 256K plus the ASUS S370-DL card.. and guess what I see on the chip: 1.475v !!! ahh!

you warned me, it's a tualatin, and it doesn't work

I'll return it, but is there a cuppermine version availlable for the 1GHz Celeron? What's my other alternatives..?

<i>sachoben</i>

 

[Crashman]

Yes, there is a 1.0GHz Coppermine Celleron, should be at 1.75v, 128k cache.
BTW, the 1.0GHz Celeron isn't really that fast, about the same as a PIII 750E.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[camieabz]

You could exchange it for a Celeron 1100, at the correct voltage. I think the 1100 is the highest you can go. 128k unfortunately, but not bad for the price.

<b><font color=blue>~ What do you mean "It isn't working!"...Now where's my sonic screwdriver? ~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[Guest]

really? I could go up to 1100 with my P3B-F?

but the problem I am facing right now, is that I can't find 128K Celerons anywhere! I've looked at the price list of 3 local distributors, and they can only order 256K celerons..

if you find one in a computer store on the East coast that could ship to Quebec, I could be saved

<i>sachoben</i>

 

[dhlucke]

bump

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>

 

[silverpig]

bump for spammage clearing

If my baby don't love me, I know, I know, her sister will.

 

[Crashman]

You'd get better performance with a PIII 933 or 1000EB.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[camieabz]

erm...East coast of Scotland? No probs.

Shipping would be the same price as the chip. LoL!

<b><font color=blue>~ What do you mean "It isn't working!"...Now where's my sonic screwdriver? ~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[Guest]

well, I was talking about the East cost of america, and the only store I found that would ship to quebec was located in Seattle. And they would have charged me 48$ for the shipping!! lol Just because it's "international", haha I'm living at 20min of the US border.

anyway, my local store finally got its hands on a Celeron 1.1GHz 128K.. I just hope this one will work

I know that the PIII would have been a better choice, but I realized it would be better to go with a cheap upgrade and then sell this computer in a near future

<i>sachoben</i>