Upgrade Gateway PII 450 MHz

[Guest]

I have a Gateway G6-450 that I want to upgrade the CPU on, but I am not sure what my options are, much less what I need to make it work. I have spoke with Gateway Support and Gateway Add-On Sales and received conflicting information from both parties. The last thing I want to do is to "fry" my system. I have seen several CPU upgrade posts on this web site, but none that seem to address this particular situation because of the motherboard. To do this upgrade, I don't want to replace the motherboard because of the design of the tower case and its built in LS 120 support. Here is what I have:

-- Gateway Tower Case
-- 200 Watt OEM Power Supply
-- Intel PII 450 MHz
-- Intel Tabor Motherboard MP440BX
-- Bios 4M4PB0X1.15A.0033.21
-- Front Side Buss 100 MHz
-- 256 Ram
-- Promise Ultra 66 Card
-- LS 120
-- 2 Hard Drives
-- CDRW
-- DVD
-- HP Colorado 14 GB Tape Backup

In searching Gateway's web site, I looked up the motherboard (Gateway # 4000321) and came across to items of information:

-- The processor's Voltage Identification (VID) pins automatically program the voltage regulator on the motherboard to the required procesor voltage.

-- The motherboard can be upgraded with PII processors that run at higher speeds by using the configure mode in CMOS.

This is what has confused me. Gateway Support said I could only go with a PII 450 MHz, but Gateway Add-On Sales said I could go with a PIII 850 MHz with a FSB 100 MHz. Neither would elaborate more than that. I have also seen several posts referencing a "slotket," but I am not familar with them.

I realize a new power supply would help, but the Gateway case will only work with power supplies with the fan built into the bottom of the unit and I have not been able to find one outside of Gateway. I faced this problem a couple weeks ago when mine went out (two weeks after the warranty ran out, of course).

Any help (as well as instructions) on what I can do about my CPU dilema would be greatly appreciated.

PS I also plan on upgrading to Windows XP.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

hi!
i think if you motherboard is socket 370 than you can install p3, but first check the voltage of you mother board if it can support certain volage and a 133mhz fsb and then upgrade.
i would recommend to check manufacturer's web site of you mobo.

 

[Guest]

A slotket is a little card that has the FC-PGS (socket) for the CPU on it, you insert that guy into the slot connector on the motherboard. It basically allows you to use the newer socket-style cpu's with the older slot based motherboards.
As for an upgrade, I don't think you'd be able to go any higher then a PII 550 (Or whatever the highest speed P2 is) if at all that.

<A HREF="http://www.pavleck.com" target="_new"> Geek Events and Usergroups in YOUR Town </A>. Eventually. Some day.

 

[Guest]

Thanks CraZZy_BaBooN for your reply. I forgot to post that my mobo is a Slot 1 type with the PII 450 running at 2.0 volts.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply and info Judg3. I am beginning to think you are correct. It is very discouraging to find out that after I spent all of that money, I can't even upgrade this machine.

 

[Crashman]

People keep asking this question. The answer can be found at <A HREF="http://www.gateway.com/support/techdocs/references/motherboard/4m4pb0x1/4m4pb0x12.shtml" target="_new">http://www.gateway.com/support/techdocs/references/motherboard/4m4pb0x1/4m4pb0x12.shtml</A>
According to the REAL hardware specs page:
"The 4000590 motherboard is a revision of part number 4000444. The purpose of this revision is to add support for Coppermine (CuMine) Pentium® III processors."
So look for those part numbers ON THE BOARD ITSELF! The older revsion can support the earier "Katmai" core PIII that has 512k of slower "off die" cache. These wer avialable up to 600MHz. The newer revision of the board supports Coppermine processors (these end with an "E") which have 256k of faster on die cache. The Coppermines were available up to 1GHz.
So if you have the version that supports Coppermines, you golden. The 850E is the fastest common 100MHz FSB Coppermine. But for a while Intel also produced a 900E and 1000E. You can use any of these or the slower ones as long as you have Coppermine support. You just can't use the "EB" processors on any version because these require a 133MHz FSB to run at full speed.
And if your stuck with the older version motherboard, you can use the 600, not the 600E or 600B. Look on Pricewatch for any of these, and for the 900E/1000E you might have to do a search.
If you can support Coppermines, you have two choices, the FC-PGA is possible with a $10 "Slotket" for FC-PGA (Coppermine) processors. Or you can still find Slot 1 versions of the processors as well, but at different prices. The slot 1 version uses a newer "SECC2" form that does not have the heat spreader plate that PII's had, so either way you'll need a new heatsink.


Back to you Tom...

 

[Matisaro]

However the 1000e's are so rare their cost makes them very unattractive, you can in most cases get an athlon mobo and a 1.2ghz cpu and ram for less than just the cost of the p3 chip, the choice is yours.

~Matisaro~
"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
~Tbird1.3@1.5~

 

[Crashman]

Ease and certainty would push him towards the 850E, unless he can find a 900E at a similar price.

Back to you Tom...

 

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I have check the mobo and it is one of the old ones, a Tabor II (Gateway Part # 4000321). From what I have been able to find out, this mobo does not support Coppermine. I have also tried to find a PIII 600 MHz, 512 kb cache, FSB 100 MHz, Slot 1 processor and I believe they are extinct. Has anyone heard anything about the Evergreen Performa 1 GHz? I am not sure I about the Celeron 1 GHz CPU with 128kb cache or if the performance would be great enough to offset the cost. Any other suggestions or input would be welcome.

 

[Matisaro]

Get a new case, a eccs735 mobo and a 1.2ghz athlon 256 megs ddr ram, and salvage the other parts.

less than 200 bucks, fast as hell and a good deal.

~Matisaro~
"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
~Tbird1.3@1.5~