Aptiva Series 2172 Motherboard, specs???
Hi, i just wanted to ask if anyone knows the memory and CPU support specs for the IBM Aptiva 2172-75A Motherboard (part no.01N1943)? 
Ive tried looking for infomation on the internet, but i couldnt find anything. Ive looked at the IBM site, but apprently their site claims that my computer model doesnt exist
So ive sent an email to them. but just incase i thought i'd ask here aswell 
As far as i know it can support 256mb of memory (128mb per stick, this is what im using but im not sure if it can support more).
But i wanted to know whats that maximum amount of memory it can support per stick and in total (im sure it cant handle a stick of 512mb, the motherboard doesnt even register it, but it still starts up properly
Also, i need to know what processor FSB can it support (133mhz?), i know it can support 100mhz because that's the one it came with.
Any other specifications for this board would also be appreciated.
Ive tried looking for infomation on the internet, but i couldnt find anything. Ive looked at the IBM site, but apprently their site claims that my computer model doesnt exist
So ive sent an email to them. but just incase i thought i'd ask here aswell As far as i know it can support 256mb of memory (128mb per stick, this is what im using but im not sure if it can support more).
But i wanted to know whats that maximum amount of memory it can support per stick and in total (im sure it cant handle a stick of 512mb, the motherboard doesnt even register it, but it still starts up properly
Also, i need to know what processor FSB can it support (133mhz?), i know it can support 100mhz because that's the one it came with.
Any other specifications for this board would also be appreciated.
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Comments
Good luck getting any info out of IBM. They're the last place that would want you to upgrade your hardware without paying them to do it for you.
But if you are 100% sure,
Anyway, it is indeed a PIII, but because it's limited to 100MHz FSB, I believe the best you can do is 550MHz.
Oh and just incase, heres a little more info: My motherboard can support a maximum of 256mb of SDRAM, which means that's a maximum of 128mb perstick, (because ive only got 2 memory slots).
My current processor states that it runs at 2.05v (600mhz) and the 1 ghz processor states that it runs at 1.7v.
Even if you could upgrade it to 1GHz, the CPU you would need would be very expensive for its speed. It'd be much more worth your while to buy a new mobo and proc, rather than trying to upgrade what you have now.
Well im buying the processor off ebay so it doesnt cost that much, and the person im buying it off, has assured me that he has tested it recently, and it works. And since the FSB is the same as my current processor im quite confident that it will work
[what's this "multipler" thingy and how do i test my motherboard for it?
Ive just been wondering if my motherboard could handle a processor with an FSB of 133mhz, but apprently it can't :shakehead
Also ive become quite attached to my pc, so im not planning to upgrade to P4
Anyway ive got other P4 computers in my house that i can use.
And for some reason, every single page that mentions my PC, on the IBM support and help site, has been erased
Because of this i can't find out if i have the latest BIOS, but i used the "IBM Update Connector" and it seemed happy with the current BIOS i have
I think this might work, because i actually had my motherboard running at (2x100mhz) and i had a 600mhz processor in it, and it worked!
However im not sure if the motherboard automatically regulated itself to the correct speed electronically (the switches are physical)
Any idea what kind of RAM you have on that motherboard? DIMMs?
I got 2xDIMMs both with 1x128mb SDRAM in them, comming to a total of 256mb. Apparently that's the maximum amount of RAM my motherboard will support.
You do know that processors much faster then that are going for around $50, right?
You're making a big mistake trying to upgrade this system.
It's like putting fat exhaust tips on a Honda Civic... Oh, hmm, people do that, don't they?
Exhaust Tips?? I dont think thats a correct comparison of the two subjects, it would be better to compare the actual engine of the car (since the cpu of a computer is basically equivilent to an engine of a car).
Well, i think ill probably will just save for a new motherboard, CPU & RAM.
,Although it depends if someone decided to take on my bid, first
i think the exhaust tips analogy is a decent one. after all the exhaust is routed directly from the engine so it could be considered part of it. and essentially there i no perfomance increase when adding exhaust tips. same goes for your cpu upgrade. even though you are swapping out entire engines per say, there will be little to no performance increase. that is the point Leonardo was trying to make.
anyway i did a quick look at newegg and came up with something cheap but decent... (around $181 w/ shipping)
amd sepron 2600+, s754 = $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104226
wintec 512mb ddr400 = $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820161615
abit ku8, s754 mobo = $68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127210
there are tons of options avaliable, so it would be unwise to invest any amount of money into such an old system.
It's more like putting a 10hp engine in an electric golf cart. It'll be faster than when it was with the electric engine, but it's still not anywhere near useful enough for more than driving over well-trimmed lawns.
It is true that your machine probably won't recognize new processors, but if it will boot with an unknown processor (many Dells of this era can) and you're dead-set on keeping this machine alive, I'd look at getting a Tualatin Celeron processor (1.2-1.4GHz @ 100MHz FSB & 256KB of L2 cache) and a slocket (Upgradeware Slot-T). Together they shouldn't set you back more than $50.
If you don't game then a machine like this is more than adequate for running Office and surfing the web. I use a similar machine (Dell Dimension XPS R-series w/ 1.3GHz Celeron, 384MB RAM, i440BX chipset) as a Linux test platform and multimedia PC. It won't do more than one or two things at the same time due to the lack of RAM, but it is far from obsolete.
-drasnor
1) Your computer is OEM, made by IBM. As a rule, OEM machines can't be overclocked (the Intel specification states the 440 chipset series only supports 66MHz and 100MHz bus speeds). 133MHz isn't supported by Intel so IBM won't let you do it. If you had made your own computer 6 years ago using a third-party motherboard then maybe 133MHz would be a possibility, but nearly all OEM's lock out unsupported operational modes to cut down on the warranty technical support. The exceptions to this rule are all very expensive.
2) I'm only aware of one 440 series chipset that can overclock to 133MHz consistently without becoming unstable: the performance and stability-oriented i440BX. This has to do with several factors including the design of the memory controller and the supported PCI and AGP frequency dividers. Your chipset is the budget-oriented i440ZX so even if you were to somehow aquire a hacked BIOS for your IBM that allows you to overclock, odds are your chipset won't hit 133MHz reliably. The Aptivas were IBM's budget line, so I wouldn't be expecting anything great performance-wise.
I agree with all of these fellows that you should be seriously thinking about getting a new computer. If you feel confident enough to install a slocket then you shouldn't have any trouble assembling your own computer. I've had to sort out wierd jumper/voltage/frequency/compatibility problems using slockets and I can tell you right now building from scratch is a lot easier than trying to figure out how badly the OEM screwed you. Getting a slocket and a Celeron will be cheaper than buying a new machine but if you're in this for another 6 years you may want to bite the bullet.
-drasnor