XP-TMC adapter with KT7A?

[AdMartin]

I read about the XP-TMC adapter socket from Upgradeware at Tom's Hardware and I wonder if it will enable my KT7A v1.3 to use the latest XP CPUs? According to Paul's KT7A FAQ, the fastest CPU I can use is otherwise XP 2100+.

/Martin

 

[Wes Newell]

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 19:09:23 +0000, AdMartin wrote:

I read about the XP-TMC adapter socket from Upgradeware at Tom's Hardware and I wonder if it will enable my KT7A v1.3 to use the latest XP CPUs? According to Paul's KT7A FAQ, the fastest CPU I can use is otherwise XP 2100+.

You don't need no frigging adapter. See link below.

 

[AdMartin]

I read about the XP-TMC adapter socket from Upgradeware at Tom's
Hardware and I wonder if it will enable my KT7A v1.3 to use the latest
XP CPUs? According to Paul's KT7A FAQ, the fastest CPU I can use is
otherwise XP 2100+.

You don't need no frigging adapter. See link below.

Thanks for the info! But of the 6 solutions listed on the site (and below), none seem suited to my electronics skills. I think I'll simply go for the XP 2100+.

/Martin

1. Cut the L1 bridges. This will allow the cpu to operate at it's default multiplier setting. Which you can change on the cpu fairly easy if you want.

2. Some board makers will rma the boards and modify them I'm told. I have no personal knowledge of this and I don't know if there's a charge.

3. Close L3-5 bridge if you can live with a maximum 12.5 multiplier. In this case, to attain max speed, your FSB must support 166mhz or higher.

4. This is just a theory. I make no claims as to doing it. Cut the trace to the .5x multiplier pin and move it to the 8x multiplier pin (AJ27) on the socket. This would do away with the half steps in the multiplier and should give you 5=5, 5.5=13, 6=6, 6.5=14, etc.

5. The most control, but by far the most work required. Cut ALL traces to the multiplier pins on the motherboard and wire them to dip switches. This will require knowing what you are doing. The above link should help you if you decide to take this somewhat drastic means.

6. And I almost left this out. Get a new board that has proper support.

 

[Wes Newell]

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 21:22:39 +0000, AdMartin wrote:

I read about the XP-TMC adapter socket from Upgradeware at Tom's
Hardware and I wonder if it will enable my KT7A v1.3 to use the latest
XP CPUs? According to Paul's KT7A FAQ, the fastest CPU I can use is
otherwise XP 2100+.

You don't need no frigging adapter. See link below.

Thanks for the info! But of the 6 solutions listed on the site (and below), none seem suited to my electronics skills. I think I'll simply go for the XP 2100+.

You have to remember that was written before the Tbred B core came out. Get a 2100+ Tbred B core and drop it in for 2000MHz and higher.

 

[AdMartin]

You have to remember that was written before the Tbred B core came out. Get a 2100+ Tbred B core and drop it in for 2000MHz and higher.

Ahhh... but what's with the Tbred B compared to A? And if I decide to go beyond the recommended ABit specs, wouldn't it be better to go straight for a Barton 2500+ instead, to get the extra cache? I realise though, that either getting a Tbred B at 2000MHz or a Barton, would mean fiddling with the multiplier, which I'm totally unexperienced with...

Thanks for all the help,
Martin

 

[Wes Newell]

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 07:12:48 +0000, AdMartin wrote:

You have to remember that was written before the Tbred B core came out.
Get a 2100+ Tbred B core and drop it in for 2000MHz and higher.

Ahhh... but what's with the Tbred B compared to A? And if I decide to go beyond the recommended ABit specs, wouldn't it be better to go straight for a Barton 2500+ instead, to get the extra cache? I realise though, that either getting a Tbred B at 2000MHz or a Barton, would mean fiddling with the multiplier, which I'm totally unexperienced with...

The Tbred A core won't boot at 2000MHz and the B core will. Any cpu with a multiplier of 13 or higher plugged into the KT7(A) boards will default to 20x100. A 2500+ only has a multiplier of 11 by default, so to get to the higher multipliers, you'd have to change that. Otherwise you can just drop it in and run it with a multiplier of 12.5 set in the bios. When i bought the 2100+ B core there was about a $60 spread between it and the 2500+. Today the cost spread isn't much so take your pick.

 

[AdMartin]

The Tbred A core won't boot at 2000MHz and the B core will. Any cpu with a multiplier of 13 or higher plugged into the KT7(A) boards will default to 20x100. A 2500+ only has a multiplier of 11 by default, so to get to the higher multipliers, you'd have to change that. Otherwise you can just drop it in and run it with a multiplier of 12.5 set in the bios. When i bought the 2100+ B core there was about a $60 spread between it and the 2500+. Today the cost spread isn't much so take your pick.

Ok, thanks, now I can make an informed decision! By the way, is the Barton multiplier locked by default or can it be changed to 12.5 or 13 in the setup without hassle?

/Martin

 

[Wes Newell]

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 15:07:10 +0000, AdMartin wrote:

The Tbred A core won't boot at 2000MHz and the B core will. Any cpu with
a
multiplier of 13 or higher plugged into the KT7(A) boards will default to
20x100. A 2500+ only has a multiplier of 11 by default, so to get to the
higher multipliers, you'd have to change that. Otherwise you can just
drop
it in and run it with a multiplier of 12.5 set in the bios. When i bought
the 2100+ B core there was about a $60 spread between it and the 2500+.
Today the cost spread isn't much so take your pick.

Ok, thanks, now I can make an informed decision! By the way, is the Barton multiplier locked by default or can it be changed to 12.5 or 13 in ...

The Barton is unlocked. You can change the multiplier to 12.5 (12xabove) in the bios, but to get to the upper multipliers, you'd need to change the default on the cpu to 13. This will probably bring the FSB bug into play too. See Multiplier cross ref in link below.

 

[AdMartin]

The Barton is unlocked. You can change the multiplier to 12.5 (12xabove) in the bios, but to get to the upper multipliers, you'd need to change the default on the cpu to 13. This will probably bring the FSB bug into play too. See Multiplier cross ref in link below.

Ah, now I think I've got it. So if I want a Barton and don't want to touch the bridges, I'd be better off with a 3000+ since it defaults to 13x166 and should thus work without problems at 17x133... It's too bad it's a bit pricey, but maybe it's dropped by the time I make the decision to upgrade my CPU (from my current Duron 1200).

Thanks,
Martin

 

[Wes Newell]

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 21:51:40 +0000, AdMartin wrote:

The Barton is unlocked. You can change the multiplier to 12.5 (12xabove)
in the bios, but to get to the upper multipliers, you'd need to change
the
default on the cpu to 13. This will probably bring the FSB bug into play
too. See Multiplier cross ref in link below.

Ah, now I think I've got it. So if I want a Barton and don't want to touch the bridges, I'd be better off with a 3000+ since it defaults to 13x166 and should thus work without problems at 17x133... It's too bad it's a bit pricey, but maybe it's dropped by the time I make the decision to upgrade my CPU (from my current Duron 1200).

I think you'd be better off upgrading the MB and getting a 2500+ for about the same price as the 3000+ alone. You can get a new MB for under $60.

 

[AdMartin]

I think you'd be better off upgrading the MB and getting a 2500+ for about the same price as the 3000+ alone. You can get a new MB for under $60.

The thing is that I need an ISA slot for my AWE64, for nostalgic moments when I want to play old DOS games. That's why I want to keep my KT7A. But I'm broke right now, so I won't upgrade anything right now anyway. I'll see what price levels the CPUs are at when I have the dough.

Thanks for all the help!

/Martin