I own an old AOpen AX64 MoBo. I know a bios update can't give me a wider
range of possible FSB that Bios offers because these are the only ones
supported by the clock generator of my motherboard (ICWorks W144H).
But, is the clock multiplier a bios issue or is it related to hardware as
this is the case for FSB?
The Max multiplier for this motherboard is 8, Unicore software tell me that
there is a new bios for this MoBo but never replied my mail when I asked
what they mean by "support for faster CPU" so I want to know if this is
possible or not.
Thanks
Don't bother with the Unicore software for running a faster CPU, at
best you'd pay more than it'd cost for a better, more modern
motherboard, and at worst you have a less-featured BIOS that adds no
further support than already in the current AOpen bios. It would be
advisable to flash upgrade the board to the last released AOpen BIOS
now, before trying a new processor.
Setting a multiplier is a BIOS issue, can also be detected by a
motherboard to set this way, but the Intel processors have a "locked"
multiplier that can't be set by the BIOS, so it's irrelevant what
capability (or lack thereof) the BIOS has for the multiplier of the
processor intended for use. The issue is whether the BIOS is
configured to "unnecessarily" halt itself when it can't recognize the
processor, or if it will attempt to continue. In general, AOpen
boards don't unnecessarily halt themselves for lack of CPU ID, but it
might display a model name or frequency that's a bit off at POST-time,
which can later be checked (if running windows) by utilities like
Sisoft Sandra or WCPUID,
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html
Because that motherboard has support for Coppermine processors, and
support for 133MHz FSB, you should be able to run any coppermine
processor, up to and including a P3 or Celeron 1.1GHz.
While the product page only notes earlier support, if you check
alternate location like the following link or newsgroup posts, you'll
find evidence that the board will work with processors having higher
multiplier than 8X.
http://www.aopen.com/tech/report/cpuref/converter.htm
If you have yet to buy a processor, beware that the Tualatain FCPGA2
Celeron and P3 processors aren't compatible, and also come in similar
speed models in the 900 or 950MHz to 1.1GHz range.
Dave
