ASUS P2B - PIII 600 accepted?

[adelaidebs]

Hello,
I have an ASUS P2B motherboard. While checking the video card the other day, I found out that the CPU fan was not working probably due to the obvious corrosion on it. As I am afraid that the CPU may have been damaged by the lack of appropriate cooling (although I haven't often experienced hangups), I was thinking of buying a new CPU unit. I still can find PIII 600 slot 1 CPUs here.
The problem is that ASUS website isn't clear about whether or not the P2B accepts a PIII 600. The specification page says it does, but the most recent manual only details up to 500. In my ignorance, it seems to me that this is only a matter of appropriate jumper settings, but in fact I have never done a CPU upgrade and I'm afraid of buying something wrong.
I have tried to contact ASUS, but I haven't got any answer from either their USA nor their Taiwanese support. Any help is appreciated.

[iisbob]

From what i saw of your motherboard specs at the ASUS site; i don't see a problem with you useing a PIII 600, since the PIII is set to run on a 100mhz bus. Do you have the manual? if not you can download it from there site, installing the processor is not to difficult-just take your time. There should be a jumper settings diagram for the motherboard that will tell you the correct settings so that the board and BIOS recognize the new CPU.
Another thought is that you could just replace the fan on your heatsink combo, certainly a lot less expensive and easier to do.

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iisbob
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."

[adelaidebs]

iisbob,

ASUS website is not definite about this issue. Here are my findings:

ASUS P2B jumpers can indeed be set to use PIII 600: http://www.asus.com/products/motherboard/Pentiumpro/P2b/jumper.html

but ASUS P2B specs http://www.asus.com/products/motherboard/Pentiumpro/P2b/spec.html
speak of 512k cache, which mean Katmai and not Coppermine CPUs, right? http://www.asus.com/products/techref/Cpu/Coppermine/cumineid.html

There is a BIOS update regarding Cu-mine processors: http://www.asus.com/Products/Motherboard/bios_slot1.html#p2b

On the other hand, I found this in their knowledge database a note that P2B rev. 1.04 from 1998 does not accept Cu-mine: http://knowledge.asus.com.tw/eng/content.asp?id=KB-0000001403

My PC is from 1998 and so my board *may* be this rev. 1.04 that does not accept Cu-mine processors. So, apparently, the key issue is whether my mobo is this one or not (I suppose only later revisions would accept Cu-mine processors). The PIII 600's I found are Cu-mine. :/

How can I check my mobo's revision? This "1.04" is not the BIOS version, I suppose, as they speak of a "hardware issue".

Sure, replacing the fan is a natural option, but I am only afraid that the CPU may have already suffered from high temps for so long that it can begin malfunctioning at any time, and maybe then I won't find any CPU that fits my motherboard.

Thanks,
Adelaide


[This message has been edited by adelaidebs (edited 07-18-2001).]

[iisbob]

the motherboard revision no#'s should be physically written on the board; as for your fear with the cpu-i would suggest you try the fan first; no need to get to expensive right off the bat, and if you're serious about replacing your CPU-it would be better in the long run to get a different motherboard and cpu since slot's are no longer made or supported, you can go here (http://actualpc.com/) i use them quite a bit and they usually have good deals on motherboard/cpu combos( most for around $200-250 ).

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iisbob
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."