OVERCLOCKING A HP PAVILION 8290

[collindv]

Does anyone have experience overclocking an HP Pavilion 8290. Here is some of the system information

Evergreen Technologies System Information, Ver 3.23

CPU Vendor = GenuineIntel
CPU Name = Celeron
Socket Type = Slot 1
Model = 0651
BIOS Vendor = Phoenix
BIOS Version = 4.0 Release 6.0.3
BIOS Date = 03/13/98
BIOS ID =
Chipset = Intel 440BX/ZX with AGP
CRC1 =
CRC2 =
CPU Core = 400 MHz
Front Side Bus = 100 MHz
Clock Multiplier = 04.0
L1 Code Cache = 16 KB
L1 Data Cache = 16 KB
L2 Cache Size = 512 KB
Available Physical memory = 112552 KB
Total Physical memory = 294148 KB
Memory Load = 42 %
Operating Systems = Windows 98 SE

Can anyone reccomend a course of action? I have gone into my BIOS settings, but the speed cannot be changed from what I can see. Any suggestions?
David

[Tim-]

The Phoenix bios is not a good sign. Try to visually identify the MB for brand and model information. Try to find the biso number marked on the bios chip. With this info we might be able to help. Also get a copy of Sandra and run it, and see what it tells about the motherboard and bios.

[collindv]

OK, did some experimentation with the motherboard today. Tried adjusting the FSB jumpers. The only options are 66 MHz and 100 MHz, so that didn't halp. Tried adjusting the multiplier jumpers, but the system won't boot at >4.0X (4.5 and 5.0 would not boot). There is a number on the board around the PCI slots, which is P2898-XV if that helps any. I ran Sandra and got the following info:

processor - Intel Pentium II @401MHZ

Co-processor (fpu) - Built-in

Type - Standard

Packaging - SECC(2) Slot 1

Performance Rating - PR481 (estimated)

Multipliers - 4.0

Class - 6*86MMX

Model Info - P6L (Deschutes) Pentium II 266-450 2V

Revision / stepping - 5/1

Stepping Mask - dA1


MOTHERBOARD

Class - IBM PC/AT
System bus(s) ISA(16bit), PCI(32/64-bit), USB, AGP(32-bit)

System Chipset - Intel Corporation 82443BX/ZX 440BX/ZX CPU to PCI Bridge (AGP Implemented)

FSB - 100 MHZ
ACPI PM SUPPORT - YES
SMB/i2c Support - 1 channel.

Is there anything I can do to speed this thing up any? Please help if possible. Thanks in advance.
D

[Tim-]

Okay! What you have is an Asus P2B-98XV MB. The downside is the neutered Phoenix bios that HP installs. With that bios the jumpers are usually futile since the code has been altered to ignore them. The multiplier is locked in Intel chips anyway, so that was never an option. I have played with this HP combination before, and got exactly nothing for my efforts. The Bios chip is locked to prevent the flashing of the original Asus overclockable bios. SoftFSB typically causes the machine to lock up also.

The one thing that I didn't try, that would be the likely fix would be to obtain a new bios chip from Asus or another provider and change it out. Then, if the MB itself hasn't been modified it should allow you to overclock. HP has been known to hardwire jumpers across the bottom of the board, and remove the header pins that allow selection of FSB as well.