cpu upgrade

[ozasaurus]

I am considering upgrading my 440BX-2, PII 400 system. The board specs lists the cpu's I can upgrade with, but the fastest ones require certain revisions of my PBA (which I do not have:mad http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif. What is a PBA? Can I upgrade it? Is this a hardware or software upgrade?

[Jumby]

PBA is Printed Board Assembly. I think it's just a motherbord's specifications, which relates to the BIOS. The BIOS is what's important. Go to the motherboard website and see what the fastest CPU you can use in it is. If you ned a BIOS update, take it to a reputable place and get them to do it. An updated BIOS is sometimes a good idea, but sometimes it's not necessary. Like if you're running a PII 450, and the fastest CPU you can put in that motherboard is a 550, it's probably not worth the expense to to upgrade. Buy a new motherboard.

[ozasaurus]

With a BIOS upgrade, the board will support up to a PIII 600. If I can upgrade the PBA, it will support up to a PIII 800. Is it worth the money and trouble to upgrade from my PII 400 to a PIII-600? I'd really like an 800, but don't know yet if it is possible. I have contacted MicronPC about the PBA issue and haven't heard back yet.

[BigBlue66]

Don't know about the cost part of the equation, but it sounds like a royal pain in the arse to me. How the heck does one update the PBA?

If it were me, I would just buy a new motherboard along with the processor of my choice.

Some nice motherboard/processor bundles can be found at:
www.accessmicro.com (http://www.accessmicro.com)

Cheers,

BB 66

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[hiredgoonz]

I don't think the PBA is something can be changed...different versions of the same mobo can have quite different components (clock generators, voltage regulators, etc.) if the 600 and 800 have different voltage requirements, the PBA version that supports the 800 may have different hardware that allows it to work...

And not to question your motives, but where are you going to get a 600 or 800 mhz P3? They aren't easy to come by, and probably not cheap...BB66 probably has the right idea. For a little more than the price of that chip you could probably, get a Duron and mobo that would provide FAR better performance, and you could even use your old memory...

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