Need serious help upgrading CPU!

[Spydc]

I'm trying to help my cousin upgrade his machine. My cousin has a Gateway GP6-466C. It has a 466MHz Celeron FCPGA. I was wondering if it was possible to upgrade to a Celeron 850 or even 1.1GHz fcpga cpu. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible since it is fcpga form factor. Additionally, I understand that he would have to eliminate the pc66 ram and get at least pc100 if he goes for the 100MHZ fsb Celeron's.. but Gateway claims that the highest speed the computer can take is a 500MHz Celeron. Is this true? Are there any voltage differences or what not that would prevent the Celeron 850 or 1.1GHz from working? Thanks!

[theflyingrat]

This is a tough one. You'd have to consult with Gateway to see exactly what CPUs this motherboard supports. First off, make sure the BIOS is the most recent version availabele. Second, if you wanted a 900, you'd have to make sure the motherboard would run a 100 fsb. This is a tough one - many old 440-revision motherboards were only designed to use a 66MHz FSB, since no other socket 370 CPUs were available besides the Celly (PIII S370s came about a year later). Also, many older motherboards were not compliant with coppermine Celerons (533A on up to 1100). The old Celeron 370s were NOT FCPGA. They were what was called PPGA. There were different pin-outs for voltages for these than for FCPGA. PPGA Celerons were available from 300As to 533s (along with their slot-1 cousins), which would include your cousin's 466. He may only be able to go as high as the early 533 Celerons.

[funnyperson1]

check if the cpu has a big metal cap on it, if it does, i believe tht it is PPGA..then you probly have trouble upgrading past a 533Celly as flyingrat said...

[Spydc]

Thanks for the help guys. You are right about that. I totally forgot about the whole ppga and fcpga thing. hmm.. So what other alternatives does he have. Are there any products out there from companies like powerleap that allow him to go past 533?

***I saw over at power.com that they have a ppga to fcpga converter. http://www.powerleap.com/Products/neo.htm.
I wonder if I can use the Celeron IIs on it now. Assuming that the motherboard can only handle up to 66MHZ FSB, what is the highest speed Celeron running at 66? thanks.

[funnyperson1]

as far as i know, the 733 is that fastest one running at 66 fsb....if i were you id pick up a cheap ECS mobo (50$) and a Celly 800 (50$) and that will be a nice upgrade for him...

[Spydc]

Very true... I actually have a Soyo 6BA+IV motherboard lying around that I don't use anymore. I also have a 16MB TNT1 card that I don't use anymore either... So I can just give those to him.. anyone know how high of a cpu it can take? He would just need a new case..and then I can transfer all the other stuff.

[funnyperson1]

that soyo should take up to 1.1 GHZ PIII or Celeron, in it....a good choice would be a Celly 1GHZ......