seeking knowledge for basic PII upgrade

[habilis]

This is my first post here.

I am in need of some knowledge relating to CPUs, motherboards, compatibilty, etc. and this site/forum seemed like the right place to go.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have a dell dimension XPS R350, with an intel 440BX based motherboard and I want to know if it is possible to upgrade the processor to a PIII 1GHz(+ or -) processor.

The current processor is a PII, 350MHz.

(I realize many of you reading this probably find this boring and basic.)

[andamus]

Here http://www.roberthancock.com/dell/etherdude.htm you can find some info on the upgrade of your system

[D.8080]

Good link there!


Alzato presto o acuto richiamo della prole?
(woke up early or kid asking for morning share?)

[andamus]

Dormito niente causa allergia , per la prole bisogna attendere la seconda metà di luglio

(I haven't sleep due to allergy , for the kid must wait until the second half of July)

[D.8080]

Allergies suck...


Thought the kid was born already, memory fails. Reboot.

(Porco giuda che toppata nei tempi, mi ricordavo che fosse verso aprile. Mi sa che forse era un altro utente...)

[habilis]

Thanks andamus!

The article is very comprehensive and its on the exact thing I want to do.

Do you (or anyone) have any thoughts, preferences, or recommendations on what cpu to install?

I don't have any experience upgrading [unlike you veteran cpu aficionados]. If anyone is willing to help guide a rookie through the process, -I'd really appreciate and value any knowledge and advice.


Please correct me on any of this.
As I understand it:

-I probably need to upgrade the BIOS from the dell website, otherwise I am limited to only the 350, 400, and 450 Mhz PII's.

-I am limited to a 100MHz fsb processor (because the fsb speed cannot be upgraded, right?).

-The voltage will be automatically regulated by the onboard voltage regulator circuit on the motherboard, which works in conjunction with the VID pins on the procssor cartridge. But how do I find out if the motherboard has support for less-than-2-volt processors [i.e. most PIII's] ?

Are there other factors involved? I have a slot 1 board. Should I get a slot 1 cpu or a slot-keted 370? Does it matter?

I don't neccessarily need the fastest possible cpu. I was thinking 1GHz or so. According to the article, to go above 1,100Mhz you have to get a Celeron, because all the Tualatin PIII's are 133Mhz fsb. So is a 1.4 Ghz Celeron better than a 1.1GHz Coppermine PIII ? And do I need a Powerleap or some other adapter to put a Tualatin Celeron in my slot 1 440BX motherboard?

What exactly is a powerleap?

Thats all the questions I'll ask for now. Thanks for your patience.

[viili]

This site is a bit old but might have the information you need:

http://www.geocities.com/_lunchbox/

Also i found a site with a lot of upgrade information about Dell XPS Rxxx series:

http://www.roberthancock.com/dell/etherdude.htm

[andamus]

Hi,
I think the the best solution is a socket 370 Celeron with Tualatin core with a good adapter.

Powerleap it the name of a producer of cpu adapter

[D.8080]

I agree with andamus.

[Chook]

A lot of BX boards would unofficially support 133 bus speed. If your board has settings for 133 bus you could use a Tualatin P3 in it. I had a BX board that would quite happily run at 133 bus. Brand name systems such as Dells may not be able to do this though.

[Guest]

Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for the links.

I read both the webpages and its a lot of info to work with. Maybe someone could help me clarify some things.

Apparently some 440BX boards only go as low as 1.8 volts. Do I have to make sure my board supports the voltage of whatever Tualatin processor I get, or does the adapter handle that issue?

Also Chook, how can I tell if my board supports 133 MHz fsb? It is an Intel board. Its a SE400BX and not a BX-2.

[habilis]

The previous post was from me (forgot to type in the username)

Also, on that last line it was supposed to say 440 not 400.

[andamus]

Hi,
a "good" adapter should have an internal voltage regulator so there is no problem to give the right voltage to the cpu.
For the motherboard you have will hardly support the 133Mhz fsb so go with a Tualatin Celeron (they have 100MHz fsb, 256Kb cache so tehy are close to the Coppermine core)

[habilis]

Can you recommend an adapter (or more than one)?