Validity of Tech Support and Opinions from other users

[Ian77]

the following is an email thread i had with the tech support at DFI (start at the bottom and go up), and i was wondering what he is saying is correct or not. Also if you are in my shoes what would you do to the processor, overclock the current one i have, or buy a new one, and which one? Help is greatly appreciated.







As I said on my previous email, you can not use a socket 370 cpu chip and using a converter, since it won't boot up at all, and you might burn and damage the cpu and the board it self. Get a slot 1 cpu, other than that it won't work.

Have a good day.

-----Original Message-----


Thanks so much for the help, just one last thing. If i were to get a celeron 900 or something that is socket 370 FCPGA not PPGA like i have now, will my old converter that says it is a PPGA celeron converter work with the new FCPGA chip? How much difference would it make to have a 1 GHz pentium vs a celeron 900 with about 700MB of memory on my board? The main difference b/w the two is the cache, stepping, and frontside bus.



-------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: I need


Hi ,You can go upto 1 Gig processor as long as it is a slot 1 cpu, it is not recommended to run on a socket 370 with a converter on it. It would be better to use a PC100, and all memory are the same brand, chips and speed, so you can avoid any timing issue or conflict, such as hang up, blue screen, black screen, etc.Have a good day.

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 12:43 PM
To: techsupport@dfiweb.com
Subject: I need advice on my Motherboard

I have the PA 61 Rev D1+ motherboard, and I have looked at the website already to attempt to attain answers, but I have not succeeded. In my system I have a 64MB and 128MB PC100 modules, and a Celeron 400 processor (socket 370 with a slot 1 converter). I would like to upgrade the memory and processor, but I'm not sure how high I can go. What is the highest Pentium and celeron processor that I can use and also can I mix the PC100 memory with PC133 memory? Help is appreciated.thanks

[Sklathill]

So you are currently running a Celeron 400 PPGA on a slocket converter and it works...and the guy replies telling you not to use slocket converters as it won't work? In any case, your current PPGA converter will not work on the newer FCPGA chips, no way. Gotta get a new slocket. Also, don't listen to the thing about PC 100 RAM. Get PC133. As for mixing speeds, sure you can. Combining PC133 and PC100 RAM and running at 100 MHz is fine. Running above 100 is where you'll get into trouble. Mixing brands and speeds shouldn't be a problem.

[William]

those guys are pretty stupid. you need PC133 for a gig p3. And you can certainly use a slocket, but as sklathill said, you will need one that supports FCPGA.

[Agentmikie]

hey.
Well...I think it´s a good idea to think about the terms the tech-supporter uses. with those terms in mind ( such as "..it is not recommended..!") I think it´s okay. After all , remember he represents DFI, he have to advise according to manufactures specs.
One could ask the supporter WHO do not recommend...and so on.
Mixing pc100 and pc133...of cause it´s possible....but do the different manufactues recommend it...no....after all they live of selling the stuff.

just a thought
Agentmikie

[Ian77]

So based on your advice i plan on purchasing a P133 512Mb mem stick and then a Celeron 900 or 850 with a new FCPGA Bridge. If there is any reason why i shouldn't, let me know, otherwise, thanks for the help!, and i guess this thread is dead now.

[Newbie_Doo]

Before you jump to a 512MB stick of RAM, check the manual or the DFI site. A great many motherboards of that vintage will NOT support a 512MB stick of ram, but may support 4x128 or 2x256. I recently upgraded my neighbor's Abit board and it will only support 128MB per slot. Read the manual first, it may save you some money and trouble.

[Ian77]

I looked in the manual and you are right it says 768 as the max, but nothing about 512 chips, only has up to 256 size. So currently i am awaiting an email from DFI support. will post results later, and if anyone knows this answer please speak up.

[AmbientFiction]

Their trying to make money off you man you can use a slocket all day long it will degrade the speed buy just a nano sec or so because their is an extra pathway for the Processer info to travle. I'd make sure I had a high grade slocket though.

[Ian77]

I got the final word from DFI, it can only handle 256 chips so a 512 would be seen as half. boo. oh well i guess i'll ride this board til i can afford a new system. Thanks for all of your help.

[_Da_Bomb_420_]

Dude, the tech you're dealing with is not completely wrong.

1) DO NOT use a sloket with any proc over 800mhz. They have issues, trust me. It MAY work, but probably wont, so dont plan on it to.

2) Get some good PC133 CAS2 RAM, 256meg sticks will be fine for you. Like they said, get the same type and speed of chips. Go with a good brand, such as Micron. Running CAS2 is ~the same as running a proc ~33-40mhz faster with CAS3 RAM.

3) PC133 and PC100 chips CAN be intermingled, just make sure you're running at 100FSB, or you'll run into stability issues w/ the PC100 chip trying to go too fast. (To everybody else reading this: I know, I've had some kickass PC100 CAS3 sticks running rock solid @ 133 CAS2 also, but lets cut this guy a break and let him discover his own system instabilities.)

4) FCPGA and PPGA are completely incompatible, but you already know that. The pin designs are different.

If I were you, I'd buy the chip FCPGA socket 370 and shell out the extra $30 for a good sloket, but would also have another $120 set aside for my new MB when my system was unstable, and pretty much plan on throwing away the $30 for the sloket. After all, for $30 it may work ok for you, if you're lucky, and you can hold off a new MB a tad bit while longer; otherwise, you're due anyways.

Just my experience sharing its $0.02......

[Pinky]

Originally posted by William
those guys are pretty stupid. you need PC133 for a gig p3. And you can certainly use a slocket, but as sklathill said, you will need one that supports FCPGA.

Actually, SL4KL/SL4BR SL4BR cC0 0686 256K 70 26.1 1,3,4,8

There's a 1 GHZ cC0 chip that runs slot 1, and at 100mhz bus.

[Muggy]

Originally posted by _Da_Bomb_420_
Dude, the tech you're dealing with is not completely wrong.

1) DO NOT use a sloket with any proc over 800mhz. They have issues, trust me. It MAY work, but probably wont, so dont plan on it to.

2) Get some good PC133 CAS2 RAM, 256meg sticks will be fine for you. Like they said, get the same type and speed of chips. Go with a good brand, such as Micron. Running CAS2 is ~the same as running a proc ~33-40mhz faster with CAS3 RAM.

3) PC133 and PC100 chips CAN be intermingled, just make sure you're running at 100FSB, or you'll run into stability issues w/ the PC100 chip trying to go too fast. (To everybody else reading this: I know, I've had some kickass PC100 CAS3 sticks running rock solid @ 133 CAS2 also, but lets cut this guy a break and let him discover his own system instabilities.)

4) FCPGA and PPGA are completely incompatible, but you already know that. The pin designs are different.

If I were you, I'd buy the chip FCPGA socket 370 and shell out the extra $30 for a good sloket, but would also have another $120 set aside for my new MB when my system was unstable, and pretty much plan on throwing away the $30 for the sloket. After all, for $30 it may work ok for you, if you're lucky, and you can hold off a new MB a tad bit while longer; otherwise, you're due anyways.

Just my experience sharing its $0.02......
Actually, PPGA and FCPGA are the same physical pin-out. They're just different electrically. Both are considered socket 370. Just my 2 cents worth.:)

[R0BB23]

tech support is as usful as trying to get tech support from a 3 year old.

[_Da_Bomb_420_]

Originally posted by Muggy

Actually, PPGA and FCPGA are the same physical pin-out. They're just different electrically. Both are considered socket 370. Just my 2 cents worth.:)

Absolutely correct, my good man! Thats exactly what I meant to say.