I recently started looking up info on the GA-6VTXD board - I'd had an old PIII board that had gone out (it was a GA-6OXET-C - several of the capacitors have a flakey crud (see left) on them that looks like leaking batteries) & had a processor that needed a new home. After mentioning this to a co-worker, I found out that there had apparently been a great number of motherboards of that vintage (circa 2001) that may have fallen victim (alt link) to a large number of bad capacitors.
I read a number of reviews as part of my research that indicated this board was not good or that there were gotchas about what processors that worked. The information below was captured in the hopes of confirming that my existing processor would be compatible.
There have been complaints that the board is not listed on the manufacturer's website - it is - just not in an obvious place & a 3 minute search on Google would have told anybody that.
The complaint that AGP 4x is not supported - I currently have set the BIOS to use the 4x setting and am running an ATI XPERT 2000 Pro in it - works fine. Personally I prefer the nVidia cards, but I got this one used & cheep.
UPDATE 4 Oct. 2005: Since I have decided to turn this system into a PVR, I have upgraded the video card to an "nVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8X" that I had been using in another system. It had composite and S-video out, the ATI card had only VGA. The card works just dandy too. The tuner card I got was the "Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250" and so far it has cooperated 100% with the dual processors - no BSODs at all! I have also added a Pioneer dual-format double-layer DVD+/-RW drive.
UPDATE 20 May 2008: The system has now been upgrated to use a pair of Tualatin 1.4GHz processors and an additional 1 GB of RAM, making it have a total capacity of 1.5GB RAM.
UPDATE 7 Jan. 2009: I initally ran the Hauppague software (WinTV Scheduler), and then attempted to use the Sage TV demo. I found it to be pretty cumbersome (and too expensive). I have since downloaded and installed GB-PVR and MC2XML. Both applications are completely FREE applications, although a donation to the authors would be a nice gesture. It's an easy to use application and there are many knowledgable users in the forums. I have also since added a second PVR250 and a PVR150, making this a three tuner system, permiting up to three concurrent recordings.
Another complaint is that the book doesn't say what the bus ratio is for different processors, while this is true - there are well-known calculations for this, divide the processor speed by the bus speed. I have a 1000EB so it's 1000/133 which is 7.518 - or rounded to the nearest .5 - 7.5 - which the Intel Processor Spec Finder confirms.
sSpec Number |
SL4MF | ||
Processor Frequency |
1.00 GHz |
CPUID String |
0686 |
Package Type |
370 pin PPGA |
Core Voltage |
1.700 |
Bus Speed |
133 MHz |
Thermal Guideline |
26.1W |
Core Stepping |
cC0 |
Thermal Spec |
70°C |
L2 Cache Size |
256 KB |
Manufacturing Technology |
0.18 micron |
L2 Cache Speed |
1.00 GHz |
Bus/Core Ratio |
7.5 |
Spec Update |
http://developer.intel.com/.../PentiumIII/index.htm |
sSpec Number |
SL5XL | ||
Processor Frequency |
1.40 GHz |
CPUID String |
06B1 |
Package Type |
FC-PGA2 |
Core Voltage |
1.500 |
Bus Speed |
133 MHz |
Thermal Guideline |
|
Core Stepping |
tA1 |
Thermal Spec |
69°C |
L2 Cache Size |
512 KB |
Manufacturing Technology |
0.13 micron |
L2 Cache Speed |
1.4 GHz |
Bus/Core Ratio |
10.5 |
Spec Update |
http://developer.intel.com/.../PentiumIII/index.htm |
Another big complaint - and was a big concern to me - was that "dual mode only supports the Pentium III that has 512 KB" and that Celerons weren't supported in dual proc mode. This is where the big fact finding mission came in.
I first discovered that a number of merchants were selling the board with 1000EB procs in single or dual configuration - this made me think - "Hmmmm other than a scam - why would a businesses sell non-compatible processors with the board?" - they'd just get ill will from users and probably would be flamed on BBSs or newsgroups.
The manual is pretty clear on Celerons "Supports all new PentiumIII processors (FC-PGA & FC-PGA2 package)" - it doesn't say anything about Celerons - just the Pentium IIIs (note that the Celerons do appear to work in single configuration though - I also have a Supermicro P6DBE based system - just upgraded to Coppermine PIII-700s too - and the P6DBE manual states: "Celeron is single processor only.").
Now it just remained to figure out if Coppermines would be supported. It's been my experience with Gigabyte boards that they typically add new CPU support for the same socket config rather than take away - especially when a "lower end" processor has the same socket config as a higher end processor and they specifically support the higher end processor (I have a GA-6BXC board - or rather after 4 years of service I got a second & then a third one just like it - well almost - I had a PCB 1.7 - the others I got were PCB 1.9 and 2.0 - on ebay and upgraded it from a "stock" PII-400 to a PIII-500 Katmai - picking up the support simply by flashing the BIOS).
I then proceeded to dig around on Intel's website & the MB manual. While the MB webpage says Tualatin - the manual just says "all new Pentium III processors" The manual was dated Sep. 10, 2001 - I ordered my PIII on Sep. 9 2001 (interesting coincidence?) - so chances are that the MB was originally designed support for all then-current Socket 370 processors in single processor mode, and dual mode for those that Intel deemed compatible with dual mode. So I figured at the very least I could run the system in single proc mode & at least get a new MB for the processor & have a spare if the existing PIII chip were to ever fail.
Vantec CPU cooler |
I got the board and a matching set of heatsink/fans so the CPUs would have matching heat dissipation & so it wouldn't matter if I found a CPU with a heatsink or not - I'd have one ready for it. I picked the CPU cooler that I got (Vantec CCK-6012) because it was copper - good conductor - and it was low profile - keeps good air flow in the case for the rest of the hardware. I'm using a Supermicro 750ATX case so space isn't a big problem - but I'm seriously considering getting a modded black mid-tower & I figured these would look cool.
The moment of truth arrived when I hooked up the single CPU in the system & powered on - RAM & HDs were detected and the CPU was picked up as 1.0B GHz. I loaded up windows 2000 & aside from a problem with the IDE cable for the HD not being completely seated the first time (got Disk I/O errors - the IDE0 connector is very tight) - everything was smooth as silk. So I now at least had this processor back on-line, rather than continuing to gather dust. I then began combing ebay for another SL4MF PIII. A few days later I found one that wasn't at a ridiculous price - about the same for a new PIII OEM processor - but this would definitely match my existing processor.
While I was waiting for my second processor - I ran the system with a mild load - play MP3s over my LAN and surf the web. I then rebooted and got into the BIOS - the temps that were reported were kinda interesting, system temp was being reported as 78°F, CPU1 as 108°F and CPU 2 as 89°F - which is interesting - since I only had the heatsink plugged and clipped, but no CPU2 yet!
GA-6VTXD board with both CPUs onboard |
The second CPU came - I popped it in & about five minutes later I booted up & there it was :) "Pentium III x2". Ten minutes later I had upgraded the Computer device in the Win2K Device Manager to a multiprocessor system & it worked just dandy too. I just inserted my install media after choosing to browse a specified location (V:\i386\ - my DVD-ROM drive) and pointed it at the requested file & then chose "show other choices" and vóilà - there was "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" and "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" I chose "Multiprocessor" and one reboot later I had 2 CPUs in task manager - YAY!!!!!
POST screen |
Now when I go into the BIOS to check the temp, the CPUs are usually within 5°F of each other. These tests are pretty consistent on results - however they weren't too scientific - but at least it looks like I'm not in any danger of burning out the CPUs.
The following was taken from the Intel FAQ answer How do I know which processors support dual processing? to show what Intel says about what processors support dual processing (note the bit about .13µ process):
When verifying if processors will work in your dual processing system, you must first determine if the processors will support dual processing, and if the processors will work with each other. Therefore, you must check the following: The processors must be dual processing capable. Dual processing capable processors include:
- Pentium® III processors
- Pentium® II processors
- Pentium® III Xeon™ processors
- Pentium® II Xeon™ processors
- Intel® Xeon™ processor
Note: Pentium III processors based with 256 KB cache and using .13µ process technology do not support dual processor. Pentium III processors with 512 KB cache and using .13µ process technology do support dual processing.
Determining if the processor supports dual processing can also be done by referencing the processor's Specification Update Guide. Find your sSpec number in the Specification Update Guide under the Processor Identification and Package Information tables, and read the notes for your particular processor to determine if it is dual processing capable. An sSpec is the five digit number that starts with an 'S' and is followed by 4 characters (for example, 'SL3CC').
This is an excerpt of the chart at the Intel page Intel Pentium III 256KB Processor Product Overview
For brevity, I have removed the "S.E.C.C. 2" form factor chips since they don't apply to this discussion.
1.33, 1.20, 1.13A, 1A GHz |
1.10 GHz, 1.0, 850, 800, 750, 700, 650, 600, 550E, 500E MHz |
1 GHz, 933, 866, 800, 733, 667, 600EB, 533EB MHz |
|
FC-PGA 370 pin Package | – | X | X |
FC-PGA2 370 pin Package | X | – | – |
0.13 Micron Process Technology | X | – | – |
0.18 Micron Process Technology | – | X | X |
0.25 Micron Process Technology | X | – | X |
100 MHz System Bus | – | X | – |
256-KB Level 2 Advanced Transfer Cache (full-speed) | X | X | X |
512-KB On-Package Half-Speed Level 2 Cache | – | – | – |
Dual Processor Support | * | X | X |
Note: 'A','E', 'B' and 'EB' nomenclature is used to differentiate processors within a processor speed designation when there is an overlap between processor frequencies and functionality.
- 'A' designates 0.13 micron manufacturing process
- 'E' designates Advanced Transfer Cache and Advanced System Buffering support.
- 'B' designates 133 MHz System Bus support.
- 'EB' designates Advanced Transfer Cache, Advanced System Buffering and 133 MHz System Bus support.
Note: All processors greater than 600 MHz include the Advanced Transfer Cache and the Advanced System Buffering functionality.
* Note: Pentium® III processor at 1.33, 1.20 and 1.13 GHz does not support Dual Processor. Please refer to the Pentium® III Processor Quick Reference Guide for dual processor capability listed by processor s-spec.
Note: the "Quick Reference Guide" is very dated - the Specification Update Guide has current info on what appears to be the entire PIII family.
Pentium III CPU (SL4MF)
These tables were taken from http://processorfinder.intel.com/List?ProcFam=25
These all appear to be compatible as they are NOT the .13 micron technology chips. I have a pair of SL4MF processors (1.00 GHz).
Note also that these all have stepping values that begin with a 'c' - Coppermine.
sSpec#
|
CPU Speed
|
Bus Speed
|
Mfg. Tech
|
Stepping
|
Cache Size
|
Package Type
|
SL5U3 | 933.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256K | FC-PGA2 |
SL5QK | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5QW | 1.10 GHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5QV | 1.00 GHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4C8 | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL52R | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5FQ | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4MF | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5B3 | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5DV | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL44J | 933.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5DW | 933.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4C9 | 933.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL52Q | 933.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4SD | 900.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CB | 866.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4ZJ | 866.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5DX | 866.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4Z2 | 850.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CC | 850.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL43H | 850.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL49G | 850.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4MA | 800.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL463 | 800.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4MB | 800.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CE | 800.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL3Y2 | 800.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL52P | 800.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5QD | 800.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CF | 750.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL462 | 750.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CG | 733.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL3XY | 733.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL45Z | 733.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4ZL | 733.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL45Y | 700.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL3XX | 700.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL3XW | 667.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL45W | 650.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cB0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL4CL | 600.00 MHz | 133 MHz | 0.18 micron | cC0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5BT | 600.00 MHz | 100 MHz | 0.18 micron | cD0 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
These would also be compatible processors as they are the 512KB chips with the 0.13 micron technology.
Note also that these all have stepping values that begin with a 't' - Tualatin.
sSpec#
|
CPU Speed
|
Bus Speed
|
Mfg. Tech
|
Stepping
|
Cache Size
|
Package Type
|
SL5XL | 1.40 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL657 | 1.40 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL6BY | 1.40 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tB1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5LW | 1.26 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL6BX | 1.26 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tB1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5QL | 1.26 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5PU | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL6BW | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tB1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5LV | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 512 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
These would be incompatible processors as they are the 256KB chips with the 0.13 micron technology.
Note also that these all have stepping values that begin with a 't' - Tualatin.
sSpec#
|
CPU Speed
|
Bus Speed
|
Mfg. Tech
|
Stepping
|
Cache Size
|
Package Type
|
SL64W | 1.40 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5VX | 1.33 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5GN | 1.20 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5PM | 1.20 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5LT | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5GQ | 1.13 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
SL5GR | 1.00 GHz | 133 MHz | 0.13 micron | tA1 | 256 KB | 370 pin PPGA |
All photos were taken by Samantha and are of actual components discussed here. None of the images here are to be used without permission.