500SE - Upgrade processor?

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
email
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?