New processor for SE440BX-2 MB

[Mickey1992]

Question about a processor upgrade:

I have a PII 400 on a SE440BX-2 MB.  The Intel web site says that I can upgrade it to a PIII 600 running at 100MHz.

Do I simply have to upgrade the BIOS and swap out the processors?  Is it as simple as that?

Mickey

[hblair]

Thats all there is to it bud. I had the same mobo, I upgraded from 400 to 550. Just upgraded the bios via a cdrom and I was cookin' with gas.  

BTW, I have the same mobo in a drawer if yours goes bad or something..

[gatt]

Mickey,

after installing the new CPU, turn on the computer and go soon in the bios menù. Check the voltage and multiplier (100x6, that is). Sometimes the MoBo start with a wrong multiplier and send a warning message. If your PIII is a Coppermine (a 600E, that is) the voltage should be 1,65v.

Regards,
GATT

[Mickey1992]

Thanks hblair, I will keep that in mind!

gatt..I was under the impression that the 600E would not work for me and that I *had* to use the 100MHz 600.  Is the "E" better than the plain 600?

[gatt]

Yes, the "Coppermine" 600E is about 10-15% faster than the old "Katmai" 600. Both are 100MHz FSB. Moreover the Coppermine doesnt overheat when (moderately) overclocked. However, you can get the Katmai at a very low price.

Then there is also the 600EB, a Coppermine with 133MHz FSB. But you'd need a P133 RAM and a special MoBo to run it.

Your MoBo should be able to mount a Coppermine. But check it in the Intel Website. A Coppermine requires a 1,65 voltage, while the Katmai needs 2,0v.
 

[This message has been edited by gatt (edited 09-15-2000).]

[Shade324th]

 

Originally posted by Mickey1992:
Thanks hblair, I will keep that in mind!

gatt..I was under the impression that the 600E would not work for me and that I *had* to use the 100MHz 600.  Is the "E" better than the plain 600?

There's a pretty common mis conception that Coppermine CPU's are 133mhz.  As said before Coppermine is merely the core that the processor runs on.  Katmai is the old architechture that, again as stated before, is slightly more prone to overheating than the coppermine.  Go to www.pricescan.com   .  There you will find that the coppermine version will probably only run you about 10-30  dollars more.  Go coppermine, baby.....oh yea.

[bloom25]

I'll add something here.  It is important to note that there are TWO revisions of the SE440Bx-2 board around.  The earlier revision will support only Katami cores and the second will handle Coppermines.  You can find out what version you have by a little chart on Intel's website.  (Don't know the serial numbers off the top of my head.)

You will certainly need a bios update for either version.  This isn't too hard, you make a bootable floppy disk. (Put blank disk in drive, right click under explorer, pick format, copy system files.)  You then download the bios file from intel's site, extract it (usually you will need to extract 2 files) and put those files extracted on the floppy.  Usually these files are a .bin bios image file, an autoexec.bat file, flash.exe, and beep.exe.  All that is left to do it boot the machine with the disk in the drive and follow the instructions.  If something goes wrong (VERY RARE i.e. power fails) there is a little jumper on the MB that allows you to load a bios as well.

After updating the bios you should enter setup and check all of your settings to make sure they are all correct.  (Write EVERYTHING down before loading the bios!)  There will likely be a few new options added after the update, set them accordingly.  Windows may detect a whole bunch of new "toys" after booting up and will probably restart a few times.

As far as the processor goes, if you have the second revision, get a Coppermine.  If not you will be stuck with a Katami core version.  No matter what you will want a 100Mhz FSB version.  (NOTE:  It is possible to run a BX system at 133Mhz FSB, but it puts a huge load on your video card and PCI bus.  It would run the AGP bus at 89Mhz, rather than 66.  If you want a stable system I'd recommend a 100Mhz PIII. )

Hope this helps.  



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bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS