Processor Upgrade = No Power

[Carbo]

I'm trying to upgrade a PIII 500, (Slot 1, SECC2), to a PIII 800. Seems simple enough, right? Out with the old and in with the new.
However, after installing the 800, my machine is as dead as the Boston Red Sox come September. Plug back the 500, and she springs back to life. What am I screwing up?

 

[ObiDon]

Just a guess but...your PIII 500 is a Katmai core processor and the PIII 800 is Coppermine? What motherboard do you have?

 

[Helznicht]

Yup, id definatly be looking at any bios updates for my Motherboard.

 

[Athlon4all]

Agreed, what mobo are u using? Not all old Slot 1 mobo's support CuMine's.

 

[Kwad Guy]

If the machine doesn't even get to the BIOS splash screen, then
most likely your motherboard (hardware) doesn't support Coppermines.
You need on-board VRMs that can provide the 1.7-1.8V that your
Coppermine requires. Older Katmais only went down to 2.0V, and a lot
of older motherboards were designed to only support processors
with requirements of >=2.0V. If your VRMs can't provide 1.8V, the
machine will play dead.

Could be a BIOS issue, but not likely.

Kwad

 

[Carbo]

First, it's a Gateway Performance 500 computer, about two years old. It has an Intel mobo. Gateway support, of course, has given me three different answers as to what the maximum speed porcessor this mobo can accept. I have in my hands the 800MHz coppermine. If this is not compatible with the mobo, do I need to get another model 800 CPU, or is there an some tweak I can use to get this to work. I hate to think I blew some cash on the wrong hardware.

 

[Kwad Guy]

Well, PIII 800 processors come in two flavors: 100Mhz front side
bus, and 133Mhz FSB. Without a doubt your machine will only
support the 100Mhz FSB chips, if it supports any 800Mhz chips
at all. If you have a 800EB chip (133Mhz FSB) you are SOL.

Next, be sure to flash the BIOS of your motherboard to the latest
version available on the Gateway site. I doubt this is the only
problem, but it will almost certainly be necessary to properly
support the 800Mhz chip, assuming it'll support the 800Mhz chip
at all.

Kwad

 

[Carbo]

Kwad, thanks for the replies. The BIOS is the latest available. The processor is the 100FSB. So, should I assume if it isn't allowing me to power up, I'm plain out of luck?

 

[wfbberzerker]

maybe his psu isnt good enough?
other than that, all i can think of is that his mobo doesnt support the processor

 

[Carbo]

So, Gateway originally tells me that my mobo supports the PIII 800. I go out and buy one from a third party online retailer, EconoPC. After five weeks I finally get around to installing it only to find it's useless in my setup. Now, Gateway is saying, "No. Your mobo does NOT support that processor. Sorry, but you must have misunderstood our rep". And EconoPC is saying, "Sorry, no refunds or credits after twenty days".
I'm effed big time on this deal, aren't I?

 

[Carbo]

Can someone explain this email I just received from Gateway regarding this issue?

"Gateway Tabor III Motherboard:

This motherboard supports one Pentium II or III processor. The
processor's Voltage Identification (VID) pins automatically program the
voltage regulator on the motherboard to the required processor voltage.
The motherboard currently supports processors that are compliant with
the VRM 8.2 DC-DC Converter Design Guidelines document.

This is the specification that defines DC-to-DC converters to meet the
power requirements of the Intel Pentium II processor and future
microprocessors.

Note: This motherboard supports Pentium II or III processors with a 100
or 66MHz front side bus (FSB).

Processors with a 100MHz FSB should only be used with 100MHz RAM.

Processors with a 66MHz FSB can be used with 100 or 66MHz RAM.

Processor Upgrades The motherboard can be upgraded with Pentium II or
III processors that run at higher speeds, Up to 800 MHz P-III with the
latest BIOS, by using the configure mode in CMOS.

This motherboard uses a SECC2 Connector
The processor presses into the SECC2 connector, which is keyed on the
left side. The mounting post for the processor is also keyed.
The voltage regulators for the CPU are integrated into the motherboard."

So, I ask again, does this mobo or does it not support the PIII 800MHz 100FSB Slot 1 SECC2 that I have in my hands? If so, why ain't she firing up?

 

[technogeeky]

The motherboard bios for you is 4W4SB0X0 at Gateway. It's a remanufactured Intel board.


What BIOS version do you have? P14 seems to be the latest.

I have seen many reports of the board sucessfully running at 800Mhz.


What yo uneed to do is find Jumper J7B1 and switch it to configure mode. This will lower the speed of the processor so that it can boot. If this fails, REMOVE THE JUMPER COMPLETELY. This will run a 'recovery mode'.

Much of this can be found here

Good luck!

PM me with your results, please. I like to know if I've helped or not.


-tg

 

[Carbo]

Thanks, technogeeky. I believe we've found the solution. It's getting late for me, though, so I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I'll post and PM the results then, too.