Yet another question for Wes Newell about KT7A+XP

[sml]

Hi, I've read quite a bit of your posts on here but I'm still a bit confused. Just wanted to clear a couple things up. I have a KT7A ver1.0 or 1.2 and i'm thinking about buying a used XP1800+ palomino. It appears that from most of your threads that there's a very high chance that it'll work. My question is this:

1. If I don't modify the processor, what would the default bootup freq be if anything runs fine? I know the proc is locked at 11.5. So would it be 11.5x100=1150 or 11.5x133=1530?

2. If it boots up as 11.5x100=1150, what can I do to increase the frequency? ie) Get maybe 15x100=1500, by unlocking the cpu, so that I can maximize my cpu utilization? What steps are involved to unlock this particular cpu?

3. Should I care about how high I can get the final freq to or try for higher fsb first? obviously, 11.5x133=1530 is better than 15x100=1500, but is it really that big of a diff?

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[Skid]

I'm not Wes, but I have some of the answers.

That cpu is locked and will default to 11.5x. You can set the fsb to either 100 or 133. If your ram is good enough, you can push it a little higher, to 140 or so.

Unlocking it is a pain, but it can be done. For $7 at any auto parts store, you can buy a Locktite rear window defogger repair kit that contains conductive copper paint. Fill the laser cuts in the L1 bridges with epoxy or silicone paste. Using a needle as a paintbrush, connect all the L1 bridges -- being carefully not to let them overlap. Search for "unlock Palomino" and you'll find specifics. Here's one article:
http://www.viperlair.com/articles/howto/cpu/unlock/

Wes' page links to more.

That will give you all multis up to 12.5X, the most the KT7A supports. With a Palomino, that should be enough to max the cpu.

On the other hand, an XP 2100+ is relatively cheap and a lot less trouble.

"sml" wrote:

Hi, I've read quite a bit of your posts on here but I'm still a bit confused. Just wanted to clear a couple things up. I have a KT7A ver1.0 or 1.2 and i'm thinking about buying a used XP1800+ palomino. It appears that from most of your threads that there's a very high chance that it'll work. My question is this:

1. If I don't modify the processor, what would the default bootup freq be if anything runs fine? I know the proc is locked at 11.5. So would it be 11.5x100=1150 or 11.5x133=1530?

2. If it boots up as 11.5x100=1150, what can I do to increase the frequency? ie) Get maybe 15x100=1500, by unlocking the cpu, so that I ...

 

[Wes Newell]

On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:34:06 -0700, sml wrote:

1. If I don't modify the processor, what would the default bootup freq be if anything runs fine? I know the proc is locked at 11.5. So would it be 11.5x100=1150 or 11.5x133=1530?

11.5x whatever you set the FSB to. How high you can set the FSB depends on your ram and other components. As long as your system components are rated for 133Mhz. you should be able to get that easily. Ifg you have decent ram, etc,, you could maybe get 145Mhz for the FSB. The Palomino should be capable of about 1800MHz. ymmv.

2. If it boots up as 11.5x100=1150, what can I do to increase the frequency? ie) Get maybe 15x100=1500, by unlocking the cpu, so that I can maximize my cpu utilization? What steps are involved to unlock this particular cpu?

Raise the FSB to 133Mhz. The KT133A officially chipset supports 133Mhz and will clock higher. If you want to unlock the Palomino, search for unlocking xp. There's tons of sites for this. All you do is close the L1 bridges.

3. Should I care about how high I can get the final freq to or try for higher fsb first? obviously, 11.5x133=1530 is better than 15x100=1500, but is it really that big of a diff?

Runnig the FSB 33MHz slower results in about a 3% performance loss at the same cpu clock speed. So it's not a great loss.

 

[Spajky]

On 19 Oct 2003 02:34:06 -0700, (sml) wrote:

I have a KT7A
ver1.0 or 1.2 and i'm thinking about buying a used XP1800+ palomino.

why not to try unlocked new Duron (1,4G & up) ?
easily OC-able for at least 2GHz ...

-- Regards, SPAJKY
& visit site - http://www.spajky.vze.com
Celly-III OC-ed,"Tualatin on BX-Slot1-MoBo!"
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