PIII Tualatin

[oldrookie]

Updating two units. Both Dells. One Gx150 and one Dim. xps4100. Scanned and both will accept Tualatin 1.4's with adaptors. Adaptors, fans and heat sinks are 'in the mail'. According to old TH review, The Tualatin SL657 was the latest and greatest PIII chip I can use. I have bought one and that too is 'in the mail'. I have not been able to find another SL657 at a reasonable price. There are however quite a few SL5XL chips available. The specs on both is the same. ( 1.4, L1-32, L2-512 ). Anyone know the difference? (Not that I would understand the difference.) A better question; Am I giving up anything using the SL5XL?
Another question. I know, I know, I pushing it. But I'll risk it. with the new chips I should be able to run better graphics which translates to more power. The Optiplex GX150 is a very large clamshell tower. The XPS is only sligtly smaller standard tower. Any suggestions on power supplies? Note; willing and capable of mods to case. :?

 

[liquidpaper007]

I think it would be better if you bought a new computer. those 1.4's are expensive on ebay. how much money did you use?

 

[MrDingBat]

I think it would be better if you bought a new computer. those 1.4's are expensive on ebay. how much money did you use?

😀

Don't discourage the guy! He's recycling some old stuff!.

Oldrookie - you could just keep the original power supply and see if it still works - it probably will. I have heard that Dell components such as power supplies use non-standard connections so you migt have to be careful if you buy a new PS and try to fit it.

I'm typing this message on a machine with dual PIII 700's on a Supermicro MB. Supermicro told me that I should use a power supply more powerful than the 300 watt one that is in there but it still works fine.

This machine has 2 ISA expansion slots and an AGP verson 1 slot which won't run the latest AGP cards but I don't care - it's good for a Voodoo 4 or 5 card which won't run on later motherboards.

 

[oldrookie]

To respond to liquidpaper's comment: I bought the Sl657 for 95 bucks. Add new fans and heat sinks it comes to about 130 per machine. I consider that cheap for units that will last me two or three more years before becoming obsolete. Qualify: for OUR needs. Yeah I think it would be better if we bought new computer too. It's just not in the cards right now. Nor is it necessary. Thanks for your views.

MrDingBat: Yeah, I'll be careful on the power supply. I got a shop and tools you wouldn't believe. As long as the values are right; it WILL fit.
Thanks for reply and tips. Some thing you should bear in mind: if the equiptment requires x number of watts or volts and you run under that; it MAY work but the amp draw may eventually fry something. Again, thanks. Laterness.

 

[endyen]

A word of caution about the psu. Around that time, Dell went to a proprietary format on thier psu. A standard psu may be a short cct on your mobos.
You should wait for Crashman to respond, as he is our resident expert. You might also want to start a new thread in the motherboard forum, as he is seen most often there.

 

[Crashman]

Actually everyone has it backwards. Dell "went to" standard power supplies, they used proprietary power supplies all the way from Pentium 1's to Pentium III's and changed to standard power during their ATX12v update (for P4's).

So yes, his machines are old and likely use proprietary power. Not that he'd need more power for a Tualatin, they draw less current than Coppermines. Very efficient processors!

 

[oldrookie]

Ina few months I will need more power as by then I will have the chip installed and I will be able to go to a better graphics card. I am a CFS junkie. Love the thought of flying. Just need to find out what card isn't too big for processor. And one I can afford. Currently running ati 7200.

To liquidpaper: I blew 97 bucks on the second chip! I'm sorry. I know your in pain now. Hey, It's only money. I was tired of shopping.

endyen: thanks for cautions!

Crashman:Thanks for input. I'll procede with caution when the time comes. Do you know by chance if schematics are available? I wield a mean soldering gun.

 

[Crashman]

Hello Old Rookie! If you'd like to make a "Dell" power supply out of a "Normal" one...

If you have a Dell Dimension nearby with an ATX style board you can look at the board and see which way the pins are offset. They're offset 3 positions to remove the 3.3v line from the main connector. The 3.3v lines are relocated to a flat 6-pin connector that looks like the standard supplemental power connector for workstation boards...but isn't.

Once you have that information, it shouldn't be a problem to use the color codes to figure out the wiring.

I'd suggest a 9600 Pro or at least a 9600. These are efficient cards, much better in 3D than the 7200, but without much more power draw.

 

[oldrookie]

Wonderfulness. I just printed that out. I will be velly useful in the forthcoming months. Thank you to the tenth power. (hope thats enough) if not it's easy math anyway. 😀

 

[DVelasco68]

I actually pulled my 1400 celeron Tualatin from a powerleap adapter and put in an 1100 MHz Celeron (also Tualatin) and over clocked it to 1467 (1100 x 133 bus) upped the voltage by .05 (on the adapter).... I then put the 1400 MHz chip in my brother in laws' Dell 4?00 (with a Tualatin adapter nested in a Slot 1 adapter)... now everybody is happy.

Both chips have 256KB cache, and both have been perfectly stable for almost a year.

by the way the 1100 celeron cost me $30 about a year ago and the Powerleap adapter plus 1400 celeron cost me $99 2+ years ago.

 

[Crashman]

PowerLeap is almost never the best solution. Upgradeware is far better. The Upgradeware adapter is nothing more than a traditional Slot-1 adapter with voltage detection jumpers, similar to the Abit Slotket III, but with Tualatin support added.

The reason the Upgradeware adapter is better is that it's simpler (less likely to fail), offers better adjustability (for overclocking), and cost less. It's only drawback is that it relies on the motherboard to support VRM 8.4, the Coppermine specification. That is to say, any board that supports Slot-1 Coppermines should support the Upgradeware (a superior solution), and any board that supports only non-Coppermine slot 1 processors needs the crappy VRM of the more expensive PowerLeap.

 

[DVelasco68]

I agree, but powerleaps adapter have voltage control for overclocking, frequency control, and an independant power source... (does not rely on the motherboard for power, it gets it straight from the power supply...)

The $99 I paid (for both the 370 adapter and the 1400 celeron) this was a "mis"-price, the regular price was 149 at the time.

My old motherboard (gigabyte) socket 370 does not support Tualatin, and did not have voltage control... so it was a good deal / fit.

Before I swapped the processor I had the 1400 up to 1570 with 112 FSB, but that screws with your AGP... The 1400 processor would not have been as stable or even possible if I would not have upped the voltage.

Now with native 133 FSB and the 1100 processor (also with increased voltage @ 1467 MHz) the computer is more stable and faster overall even with the slower processor speed.

I did use the 4.95 variety Tualatin and slot 1 adapters, and they too work well in Dells.

 

[Crashman]

Yes, I've had the PowerLeap VRM fail. The onboard VRM is superior, so long as your able to use it. And many Slot-1 boards used VRM 8.4 standards, which allowed you to use the onboard VRM for lower voltages.

VRM 8.4 was developed to support Coppermine core processors and supported voltages from 1.30v upward. The previous standard, VRM 8.2, supported voltage from 1.80v upward. So the PowerLeap adapter was made to support low voltage processors on very early boards, but if you could get by without it, you were better off without it.

The Upgradeware adapter cost $20, was more reliable than the PowerLeap adapter, put less stress on power supply cables, and it's limitation for use was that it required a Coppermine compatible board to support Tualatins.