K6-2 question

[CharlesHF]

Ok, I actually have 2 questions:
I have a few K6's lying around (K6-2 350, K6-2 500, K6-3 450) which will be folding as soon as I can find parts for them, but here's my dilemma.
I was setting up the 500 the other day, and everything was right. (fsb=100, multiplier is at 5x) I reset the multiplier to 5.5x, expecting it to post saying "AMD K6-2 550MHz."
Instead, it posted saying "AMD K6-2 531MHz." What??? :confused:

Question 2 is: I've always wondered--what would I find if I took off the silver covering on one of these K6-2's? The core? :)

[DaddyB]

strange problem with the 531mhz thing, try to flash the BIOS.

in answer to your other question, yes you would find the core under the heat spreader, it basically looks like a tbird or tbred under there. I have found that the best method to remove it is to use the little metal cover thing from a 3.5" disk. slide it under the heat spreader on all 4 corners to cut through the silicone like stuff that holds the spreader on, then gently pry it off.

[CharlesHF]

It won't hurt it if I take it off, will it?
I know these are dumb common sense questions, but I don't feel like losing a chip.....:cool:

[bigfoot]

Actually I can almost guarinty it wont hurt a thing, I just did it to my friends k6-2 350 yesterday, it will look just like a t-bird. I just sanded off what was left over on the corners with some fine hobby sand paper an added a dab of thermal compound. I cant find the temps but I can say that it could only do 400 with the cover, now it does 450 easy. It was definitly worth it.

[CharlesHF]

Ok, thanks! :D I'll see what happens.
I was trying to pry it off with a screwdriver a few days ago, and I decided I'd better ask......:)

[DaddyB]

use something thin to try to get under the heat speader and cut the silicone like stuff, there is also some of that silicone on the core so once the four corners are cut you still have to pry it a little. just be careful not to hit the core and you should be alright.

this is a picture to give you an idea of what it will look like, the black circles are the silicone stuff you have to cut through.

[FRANK]

The CPU speed reading may just be a quirk with the motherboard, try a third party program such as SiS Soft Sandra, MBM or the like to verify the speed.

As stated above the cap does come off, but exercise caution, I’ve been successful using an Exacto type hobby knife with a no. 11 blade. Some have reported good luck by first freezing the CPU, this will make the adhesive brittle and the cap easier to remove.

Another member here, Eobard (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=2209), has been very successful with the K6 line of chips. Go into his profile and do a search of his older posts. There you will find enough threads dealing with these CPUs to keep you busy reading for quite a while.

I have had a bit of success with these myself, the best results being a K6III+450@616MHz.

The same rules of overclocking apply to these as well, most importantly is the cooling. An easy way to handle this is by using a HSF intended for the socket A T-BIRDS, I had good luck with Global Win FOP 32s, others models will work as well, just watch the clearance around the socket.

Watch how much you get involved in this aging platform. With the cost of the newer technology dropping almost daily, it would be easy to spend more money upgrading that socket 7 system than a decent newer socket A system would cost. Also you will never achieve the level of performance from the K6 line that you will undoubtedly get from even the most basic socket A system.

By the way, I've attached a shot of a K6III with the cap removed. If your not careful, you too will have a set of keys attached to yours.

Good Luck!

[Fiz]

Update the BIOS, I had a VA503+ from FIC that did the same thing. I flashed to the most recent BIOS at the time and it read 550. Nontheless, regardless of what the BIOS says, windows will read it as 550.

Fiz

[xanthan]

there are some wierd settings on some MB for the k6-2's, on my old setup with a k6-2 500 the multiplier 5 = 500, 5.5 = 531, 6 = 550, 6.5 = 600, 7 = 333, 7.5 = 475. hehe it was just wierd.

never could get the darn thing to run above 575 though even with a heatsink from my duron 1.2 on it :(

[RoadWarrior]

What board is it? there's some cheap boards based on SiS chipsets that claim to be 100Mhz capable but aren't, they do 95 Mhz or 97Mhz instead. This is due to the manufacturers trying to use a chipset beyond it's capabilities. So it might be telling the truth. However, it usually doesn't matter what BIOS displays, mine displays K6-2-400 when I have it at 450, as long as it's got CXT core support you shouldn't bother upgrading it.

I decapped a K6-2 333 and squeezed a few extrea Mhz out of it, you do have to take the same caution you would with Athlons about crushing the core then though, most super 7 sinks with spring clips will also bee a little loose after removing the spreader because it makes the chip taller, so adjust that or you might cook the core due to a loose sink.

When this machine comes out of service when my CXP is stable, I'm rebuilding it decapping it and putting a monster HSF on it, voltmodding the Voodoo 3 and hopefully getting it to turn out a couple of k in 3Mark.

regards,

Road Warrior

[CharlesHF]

It's an FIC PA-2013. It has a VIA chipset, though I don't know the model number.

[gtsimmo]

Ah that's the first and only board I ever fried. Well actually it was a friend. I let him borrow it while I was out of town, and he had a surge and killed the damn thing and the PSU. I had a K6-2 333 mhz, I never got it over 400 mhz. When I tried to overclock it, it give me all kinds of strange numbers like you Charles.

[CharlesHF]

Just my luck, I have 3 of those boards, and my old Soyo SY-5EMA+. That's what my old K6-2 350 was on. Never tried to overclock that one, but I probably will.

[CharlesHF]

Geez--that silicone stuff holding the heat spreader is hard as rock! how long has it usually taken you guys to pop it off? Even with my x-acto knife it's going SLOW.

[CharlesHF]

My dad decided that he'd work on them for a while, and he found the secret to getting them off, so he's doing all of them.
We have 3 three off.