A stupid question about BIOS and prescott

[Guertin Graphics Art Department]

I'm planning to get a Chaintech MB in the near future, but I am waiting
till the new prescott P4s come out in Feb. Chaintech says the MB is
compatible after a BIOS update. My question is, if the board is not
compatible with the chip now, how can I run the computer once it's put
together to flash the BIOS? Can it be done without the CPU in place? Is
there any risk of damaging the CPU by installing it before the BIOS is
updated? Chaintech's website doesn't say anything about it other than to
upgrade the BIOS. I don't have a CPU to put in there to get it going.
I was also thinking of going with the Athlon "version" of the same
basic MB, but that board with the Athlon64 3000+ would cost about $80.
more. I will be doing mostly image related (photoshop etc.) and Audio
recording (Cubase 2, Wavelab etc...). Is the Athlon worth the extra $?

 

[Dave C.]

I'm planning to get a Chaintech MB in the near future, but I am waiting
till the new prescott P4s come out in Feb. Chaintech says the MB is
compatible after a BIOS update. My question is, if the board is not
compatible with the chip now, how can I run the computer once it's put
together to flash the BIOS? Can it be done without the CPU in place? Is
there any risk of damaging the CPU by installing it before the BIOS is
updated? Chaintech's website doesn't say anything about it other than to
upgrade the BIOS. I don't have a CPU to put in there to get it going.
I was also thinking of going with the Athlon "version" of the same
basic MB, but that board with the Athlon64 3000+ would cost about $80.
more. I will be doing mostly image related (photoshop etc.) and Audio
recording (Cubase 2, Wavelab etc...). Is the Athlon worth the extra $?

Whoa. Ummmm . . . you've got a problem. The CPU is needed to run any
program, including flashing the BIOS. You need to contact Chaintech
directly to find out WHY, exactly, the BIOS flash is needed to support the
Prescott chips. It could be something as simple as the current BIOS doesn't
correctly identify Prescott. In that case, the BIOS could report that you
are running a different processor than you actually are. BUT you could
flash the BIOS. On the other hand, if the BIOS upgrade is necessary just
for the system to boot with a Prescott, then the board must have the correct
BIOS revision before the Prescott chip is installed.

I'd advise you to go with plan B (athlon 64 3000+) or find another board
that supports Prescott with no BIOS flash necessary. That is, unless
Chaintech swears that the current BIOS revision will at least boot with a
Prescott, and they are willing to stand by that assertion.

Oh, and I wouldn't say the Athlon is worth an extra $80, but I'd spend the
extra eighty bucks anyway just to get rid of the headache of "will this work
or not?". With the Athlon chip, there are many good reliable boards on the
market that need no BIOS flash. I know what I'd do. -Dave

 

[JAD]

It could be something as simple as the current BIOS doesn't

correctly identify Prescott.

this is most likely the situation, if you think about it what else could it mean? I have yet to see a 'warning' like that, that
meant having to buy one chip to be able to flash your bios to except another.

I will say this however, you are one of those guys we love cause you'll be 'beta' testing these state-o-the-art configurations. I
would hope that the 'recognition' is the only problem you have. There has to be other mainboards(chaintech is not one of MY
favorites) that will take the Prescott out of the box. Flashing the bios is one of those EASY things to do, that can go VERY badly.

JMTC, good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[JH]

You may not want the first Prescott chips anyway.
Due to the longer pipeline, the earlier (slower) chips will likley be slower
than the equivalent P4 - similar to the situation when the P4 was released,
running slower than the p3