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Well, I decided to give the P4 2.8Ghz/533 processor a shot. Even though
Gateway's information on their website says that this motherboard supports 533 processors, it appears the BIOS DOES NOT! The system starts to boot and recognizes the processor as a 533 and says it can't run it at 533 but at 2.1Ghz/400Mhz. Intel also stated this motherboard supports 533 but it appears Gateway may have crippled this system with this BIOS. What the f*&% is up with that?! This type of thing is all the more reason to dump these damn computer makers and build your own. I boxed the processor back up and returned it so I'm out the restocking fee. 2.1 was not a big enough improvement over 1.8 to justify the cost of this processor. "bootsy" wrote in message ... Hmmm... NewEgg and ZipZoomFly has a 15 day return policy and a 15% restocking fee for CPUs. Wonder if it's worth $25-35 to try a P4 3.06? Anybody ever dealt with either one for a CPU refund? Simple and straight forward or do they put you through the wringer? ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ... The BIOS ID is the key: RG84510A.15A.0057.P19. According to the Intel web site, the board is one of the following, all of which use the same BIOS: Intel® Desktop Board D845GBV Intel® Desktop Board D845GEBV2 Intel® Desktop Board D845GERG2 Intel® Desktop Board D845GRG These boards have minor variations from one another. The biggest variation is full ATX vs. micro ATX form factor. Figure out which board you have, if at all possible. Forget(!!) any info from Gateway. The Intel specs are the controlling documents, and Gateway sloppily repeats any info from the Intel docs, hence the discrepancy about memory capacity. Go to www.intel.com , and look at the specs for these boards to figure out which one you've got. Once again, the Intel-supplied AA number is the controlling factor to define exactly which processor the board supports. The bad news is that Gateway (and other name brands) sometimes demand that Intel not affix the AA# sticker to the motherboard, so you don't know exactly which revision you've got. You are in luck because the AA A86577-300 number is still on the board. ... Ben Myers On Sun, 9 May 2004 13:54:55 -0400, "bootsy" wrote: The Gateway part number is 2517198 (per their documentation of the original system). I don't see a sticker on the motherbard with this number but that's what they say I got. Now when I look at the Gateway support documents for this motherboard (see link below), it clearly states it supports 533MHz P4 processors. But the same specs also say it supports 2GB of memory and that is wrong according to the same spec sheet. Doesn't anybody proof read stuff anymore? http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERB...231sp143.shtml I've got the RG84510A.15A.0057.P19 BIOS which is that latest BIOS on the Gateway site. In the install instructions for this BIOS there is some documentation on the changes for P19 and this line appears as one of the fixes: "* Fixed issue of HT branding not displayed when HT processor is in use." Now, HT is Hyper Threading and that is ONLY available on the P4 3.06GHz/533MHz processor. Is it logical to conclude that this BIOS therefore supports the 3.06/533 processor? Or am I crazed? DAMN Gateway for not specifying exactly what processors are supported in their BIOS documention! Just too stinking logical I guess. There is an Intel marking directly on the motherboard: Intel Type D845GRG but I can't find it ont he Intel web site. There is also a white sticker with "4000792" and "ABRG23141681 AA A86577-300". Should I risk getting a new 533 processor (2.8 or 3.06)? What do you think the chances are of it being recognized correctly? 50-50%? This REALLY shouldn't be so difficult. Of course Gateway has no vested interest in keeping my system slogging along longer with more horsepower. But it does leave a bad taste in my mouth that they *might* render my investment less useful or prematurely obsolete. ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ... Gateway's response, sadly, is consistent with the policies of most other name-brand computers. They give a warranty for what they sell you, but void the warranty for CPU and operating system upgrades. None of the name brands wants to bother with upgrades any more, even selling them. Your out of warranty already anyway, so their response amounts to a large pile of cow pies. Once again, identify the motherboard model EXACTLY. Open up the chassis and write down the presumed Intel AA number as well as determining the BIOS ID. That is the only way you'll get a straight answer about what is possible for your system. BTW, if you want to go above 512MB, you'll need to pull one or both sticks of DDR, replacing them with higher capacity. But, I agree that 512MB is probably OK for most use... Ben Myers On Fri, 7 May 2004 11:42:54 -0400, "bootsy" wrote: Geez, I was impressed with Gateways first email response but when I sent back asking whether the P4 2.4 could be a 533 versus a 400 I got this response: " unfortunately Gateway doesn't suggest and support processor and motherboard upgradation or replacement, as this voids the present warranty with the computer. The very reason is that the configuration of computer solely depends upon motherboard and processor. Even if computer is upgraded, even with a compatible processor and/or motherboard, the rest of the computer configuration changes. Drives and devices connected to the motherboard start getting altogether different inputs and give different outputs. In short, the communication between processor and rest of the computer devices changes very much. Many times this change is either unexpected or unanswerable. There are many other ways to improve the performance of your computer. Simply, upgrading memory makes it run faster, as there would be more room for programs to stay while running. Moreover, you can upgrade the video card that would make graphics display faster. These two up gradations would definitely increase the performance." The first paragraph contradicts the first email I received and most of this is a bunch of malarkey! I've got 512MB of memory now and that is fine and the two DIMM slots are full. This person obviously didn't bother looking at my serial number because I have been out of warranty now for 8 months. He doesn's appear to know the 500SE too well either because Gateway in it's infinite wisdom didn't put the damn AGP connector on the motherboard so I doubt a PCI video card is going to be an improvement! Anybody know of a good place that sells CPUs that has a good return policy? Getting a straight answer is not going well. ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ... Either by running Sisoft's Sandra or another utility, or by quickly(!) writing down info when the computer is first powered on, find out the EXACT motherboard BIOS ID. This, along with any BIOS update, will help to better define the upper limit on processor speed with the board. I have taken other Intel-made boards (even a Gateway D845HV OEM mATX board flashed with a generic Intel BIOS using sleight of hand) and installed up to a 2.8GHz Celeron when neither the original spec nor the spec update does not describe a processor this fast. As good as Intel specs are (IMHO, the best motherboard specs in the biz), the "paper" PDF specs are not revised fanatically to reflect the lastest in supported processor speeds. Often, the Intel web site DOES contain an up-to-date list of supported processors. You're probably right. A 2.4GHz Pentium 4 is hardly worth the bother, given its street price of over $100... Ben Myers On Fri, 7 May 2004 09:50:58 -0400, "bootsy" wrote: Thanks for the reply Ben. I was thinking the same thing on the processor difference since there was such a big price difference. The premium must be for the HT capability of the 3.06 but will that really do anything for me or is it just Intel marketing hype to bolster their bottom line? I looked through the processors that Gateway sold with this motherboard and it doesn't look like they went this high. That concerned me since I was concerned the BIOS might not support it. For the heck of it, I sent to Gateway support and got a very quick answer. They indicate the maximum processor speed is 2.4GHz. Damn. Now I'm not sure I want to do it for a 2.4GHz processor. Of course the BIOS info file for the latest BIOS doesn't say anything on what the BIOS will support. Has anybody actually tried a processor over 2.4GHz? I really don't want to risk nearly 200 clams and not have the processor recognized. ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ... All I can say for sure is that the 206MHz difference between 3.06 and 2.8 is not worth $55. That's about 7% difference in raw CPU power, negligible when memory accesses, disk accesses, network traffic, and other factors are considered. I think that the 533MHz bus processors will be around for a while. Will the prices go up or down? I don't know for sure. The real question to ascertain is whether or not they are still in production by Intel. As long as they are, the price will remain stable or drop a bit. As soon as production stops, the prices will ease back up again.... Ben Myers On Fri, 7 May 2004 02:50:45 -0400, "bootsy" wrote: I've got a Gateway 500SE with the Nimitz motherboard and a P4 1.8A/400 GHz processor. I have increased system memory to 512MB of PC-2100 (DDR266). The system is about 1.5 years old and has the latest BIOS installed. One of the comments in the latest BIOS alluded to a fix for a Hyper-threading processor so I am assuming the board supports HT. The documentation on the Gateway site for this motherboard indicates it supports both 400 and 533 system bus speeds. It has the Intel 845G chipset. I am thinking it might be a good time to max out the processor on this puppy before the processors start becoming scarce or too expensive. Am I rushing it or will these 533MHz processors be around for a while longer? I'm thinking of getting either a 3.06GHz/533 with Hyper Threading (Newegg $221 w/free shipping) or a 2.8GHz/533 (Newegg $166 w/free shipping). Not sure whether the HT is worth all that money. What's the concensus there? Those prices are retail so I'll be getting a 3 year warranty along with the fan and heat sink. I can try to sell the old P4-1.8/400 with heatsink and fan for $50 to help defray the cost. What do you all think? Should I go for it or should I wait for the prices to drop? Or will this 533 processors start disappearing from the shelves and the price start jumping? |
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