Celeron CPU swap problem

jiggysmb

I have an ASUS mobo (P4B533-E) that supports Socket 478 CPUs up to 3.0 GHz.

I have had a 1.7GHz Celeron CPU for a few months, then was told by TigerDirect.com that their 2.8GHz Celeron would be suitable. Unfortunatly that has not been the case. The mobo is set up to Auto-detect everything, so I assumed it would pick up the same type of CPU.

Now TigerDirect wont/cant help & the CPU reseller (Pro Series Performance) is not answering calls :-(

Can anyone help?

shwaip

Have you tried the clear CMOS jumper? There should be a jumper near the battery on your mobo.

if that doesn't work:

Do you have the latest bios for your motherboard (1014)?

If not, put the 1.7GHz Celeron back in, and flash the BIOS. The bios is here:

http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4b533-e/1014e.zip

and the utility is here:

http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/flash/aflash221.zip

if you have ANY questions about flashing a bios, ask before you try anything.

jiggysmb

Thanks for the CMOS jumper suggestion. I had not known about that, but I will look in the manual for its purpose/use.

I actually try to keep my hardware pretty up to date, my BIOS is ver 1015 Beta 002. Do you think I should try the 1014e?

I appreciate your time.

jiggysmb

I found the CLRTC short points on the mobo & followed instructions to clear CMOS, but the mobo still wont boot up with the new CPU installed. The fans spin & the green LED on mobo lights up but no monitor(VGA) activity. I cant even get to CMOS setup to edit any of the CPU settings.

I have successfully reinserted my old CPU to assure no blowouts & it still runs fine. The new chip is 533 FSB, which the board supports, the only difference I see in the chips, besides speed, is 128k (old) vs 256k Cache on the new. Is that a problem?

madmat

It shouldn't be a problem at all, the celly's are basically a P4 that had some sort of problem with the L2 cache so they disable part of it, now that new chip you have is based on a Prescott core and that very well may be your problem, that core requires lower voltages AND more current to run so since it was on the drawing board when your mobo was taped out it's most likely your board won't support it at all.
My advice is to ditch the ASUS and get a nice 865p based board for about 70 bucks and call it good, you'll get a board that will support that chip (but double check before buying a board) and dual channel DDR to boot.
Overall better performance and the newer boards have tons of goodies that the older ones lack.

shwaip

jiggysmb wrote:

I actually try to keep my hardware pretty up to date, my BIOS is ver 1015 Beta 002. Do you think I should try the 1014e?

Nah..don't update then. I wasn't sure whether or not you had ever updated your bios, and whether or not your current one was supported.


What you could try doing is manually setting the frequency of the cpu using the DIP switches (as described in part 2.7, pages 16-18 of the manual)
The frequency should be set to 133, the multiplier to 21.

jiggysmb

Thanks for the advice guys.

I got a bit frustrated earlier and called TigerDirect to try again. They decided to swap my 2.8GHz 256k for a 2.6GHz 128k & refund the difference. I dont know if that was the better choice now after reading madmat's post. I hadnt realized I could get a decent mobo for under $100.

madmat

Here's the MSI Neo 2 but it lacks SATA raid or Gigabit lan. It is a decent board and offers Prescott support...you didn't send the CPU off yet?? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-467&depa=0