Upgrade Dell xps-r 350

[RTR]

HI,

I have a Dell Dimension XPS-R 350 pentium II that I would like to upgrade. I am considering buying an Evergreen Performa III 700 mhz and wondered if anyone has any input on the wisdom of this alternative.

I know the mobo will support up to 450 mhz and it is an Intel board. But Intel won't answer any questions and Dell doesn't isn't much help either, they don't seem to want to provide any details on the board, like a model number!!

There are a few other things I am curious about too:

... Will the Evergreen upgrade chip still support standby mode of the processor to power down when not in use?

... Will I have to change jumper settings on the motherboard, as noted above, Dell has not been too helpful in this regard.

... I know the mobo is rated at up to 450 mhz, but don't understand how an upgrade chip can be rated at 700/800 mhz, what am I missing here?

... Anyone have any idea of just how much relative improvement in performance I could expect?

... Any reason to believe that it WON'T work with the coming upgrade in Windows (XP)?

A lot of questions I know, but would appreciate any guidance at all on any of them.

Thanks. Ron

[tjaymadison]

You really need to find out three things: which slot or socket (A, 1, 370, etc) your CPU uses, which chipset (TX, BX, etc) you have, and your BIOS manufacturer and version number, as these will determine your upgrade path. From the info you gave, it sounds like you might have a Slot 1 Pentium II with a BX chipset. Try to write down your "BIOS ID string", which is one of the first things displayed when you cold boot. Press the <pause/break> key when you power on and your screen should "freeze", giving you a chance to see it. Press the spacebar to "unfreeze" and continue the boot process. For example, mine starts with "i440BX-....." and includes a date and version number. Once you have the whole thing -- double check, one wrong number or letter can make a big difference -- go to Wim's BIOS page at www.ping.be (http://www.ping.be) and follow his instructions to find out what you really have. If you're not getting much info on the board from Intel, check at www.motherboards.org/ (http://www.motherboards.org/) for some help.

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 03-18-2001).]

[mjc]

The question is really do you want to spend about $300 for an upgrade processor card, or for the same $$ a new MOBO and processor?

The Evergreen works because it is basically a whole computer (CPU and BIOS) that takes over from your existing CPU.

If you can find the info tjay suggested then you can search for a BIOS update that may enhance the CPU upgrade capabilities, but if DELL doesn't have the needed info then you may be out of luck, most off the shelf systems are proprietary in nature so in order to have full functionality you need to go through your system's manufacturers updates.

Here is a link that may help:Dell Dimension XPS-R processor upgrade (http://roberthancock.netfirms.com/dell/xpsrproc.htm). Obviously this page is not a Dell supported method, but it does provide you with info about what your options are.

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mjc
I'm making my own links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

[RTR]

Thanks for the response.

Answers to the questions that were raised are:

It is a slot 1 cpu, the chip set is 440BX/ZX w/ AGP, the BIOS is a Phoenix version 4.0 Release 6.0. I DON'T have the BIOS string, have not been able to figure out how to get it. The bios string is not shown at boot up on the screen as suggested (or Dell managed to suppress it somehow). I have tried disconnecting the keyboard and booting with the hope it will show up as part of the error, it's doesn't (interestingly enough there IS no error, the machine boots all the way to windows, I just don't have a keyboard when I get there). I ran the EverGreen utility to get the BIOS string and that little bit of information is the ONLY thing it doesn't report. Also tried a utility from the Motherboard site mentioned, it doesn't show it either. It is also not in the SETUP data. I have no idea of what else to try.

As far as why I would upgrade just the processor and not the mobo and cpu, well... call me hyperconservative, but I just have this issue about contributing to the waste steam and throwing away a reasonably good mobo until the wheels have actually fallen off. It is just my nature to try to get more oink out of the pig.

[mjc]

Well, good

The chances are that Dell did suppress the ID string, proprietary computer. So the best chance of a significant upgrade is to follow my link, it has info on which upgrades should work with your MOBO. \

Here is a link that may help:Dell Dimension XPS-R processor upgrade (http://roberthancock.netfirms.com/dell/xpsrproc.htm).

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mjc
I'm making my own links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

[RTR]

MJC,

Thank you very much for the link. I scanned it pretty quickly, and I must admit the AMOUNT of information is a little intimidating. I will cetainly have some reading to do, but it looks like a really good resource. Thanks again.

... Ron

[Paleo Pete]

Don't know if the Dell is anything like a Compaq, but with a Compaq you have the same problem due to a logo screen that comes on before anything else. The [Esc] key will clear that so you can see what's happening in the background. If that's your problem you mght try it, but you'd better be quick on the [Pause] key to hold the screen...

If that's not it, I guess they managed to supress the ID string, same as my Packard Bell Legend 100CD. I can't find out if any BIOS updates are available since I can't find out what board it is, and I have an Intel P-120 Overdrive CPU sitting here that I can't use as a result. No matter what I do it still runs at 60MHz. Not even the manual tells me what make and model the motherboard is. The AMI ID utility comes up with zero too, no info whatsoever. Sure would like to see the thing running at 120MHz...

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[RTR]

Pete,

Thanks, your suggestion worked!! For anyone else who may be following this subject with a similar machine, my BIOS turned out to be Phoenix 4.0 Release 6.0 ID string 4S4EB0X1.10A.0035.P13, version A13 9/21/99. Nice to have a win every now and then.

Now.... if I can just get one little other issue settled that is really niggling me, I'll go merrily on my upgrade way. I have read, and reread, and reread, the info in the link given by mjc, but must be missing some really basic priciply here. How can a mobo that is "rated" to run at a maximum of 450 mhz and a PII processor be able to run with a PIII at 700 and higher. Is the manufacturer's rating bogus? From what I read the PII and PIII have different voltages. My mobo apparently supports a 2.0v processor, would a PIII 700 slot 1, for example, which I believe runs at 1.7v have an on board voltage regulator? Seems to me I'd make a crispy critter of it if I just simply stick in a PIII 700 or so.

[mjc]

"The voltage ID signals that produce these voltages also match those put out by the CPU to request these voltages according to the Intel datasheets. So it would appear that putting out the proper voltage is not a problem for this motherboard. Many other older BX motherboards don't seem to support the proper voltages for Coppermine CPUs, so I guess we can consider ourselves lucky.."

Plus if you looked over the Dell BIOS updated info it stated that one of the releases officially adde support for Celeron CPUs, so the board must have the autodectect routine in the BIOS enabled.

If that still leaves you a little leary you can always get the socket style CPU and a slot converter that allows the manual setting of the voltage.


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mjc
I'm making my own links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 03-21-2001).]