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 Updated February 21, 1999 |
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My Computer - Why I Made this Web Page
Get Your Own PB 640 Manual - Just visit my PB manual page to download.
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THE CPU
ideas on how to upgrade your system |
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My Computer - Why I made this web
page
After I bought my Packard Bell Platinum I, I found that most of my
answers had not been answered in the material supplied by Packard Bell.
Knowing that I only had one year of free support I set out to find out
as much about my system as was possible, so that I could easily upgrade
my computer in the future. I made a number of calls and sent numerous email
to PB. Most of them were helpful, but to save you the frustration of dealing
with PB (YES IT IS FRUSTRATING) I have posted all the information I could
find in one easy place. I hope it will be helpful to you and it may even
save you money. I see no reason to pay someone $50 to upgrade my computer
if I can simply do it my self.
Read more about my system on Ray's
Packard Bell Computer Page. This pages lists what I have upgraded
as well as the stats on what my original Platinum I.
The motherboard is the center of any system, because it will determine what components your system will support. Everything from the CPU to your sound card is connected to the motherboard. The identification of which board is in your system is the key to answering questions relating to your system. This includes all questions about upgrading and technical support. This page is dedicated to the 640 and 660 Packard Bell motherboards, however there is a lot of useful information for those that have other PB motherboards.
Password Protection and CMOS Clear
The J5K2 jumper would be used for a password but the PB 640 BIOS does not support password protection. If it did work 4-5 would be normal and 5-6 would be disable.
The other side of this jumper controls the CMOS Clear function. J5K2 would be set at 1-2 for normal and 2-3 is reserved.
The CMOS is physically stored in the RAM in the National Semiconductor chip #PC87306, this chip also has the real time clock inside. The information stored in the CMOS RAM is the system information which can be changed by using the setup utility.
Accessed through the F1 button during boot up, this utility will let you change some options on your computer. You will see three major sections when you enter the menu - the Main, Advanced and Exit sections. These menus will let you change some important options as well as giving some important informative information.
Some of the options you can change include the systems clock, boot device options, power management, systems cache enable/disable, plug and play configuration and chip set configuration.
Some of the informative only information is processor type and speed, video mode, amount of extended memory, status of mouse and type of RAM installed.
I wish PB gave us more instructions on how to change these settings, I will see what I can come up with. I may be able to figure it all out if I play with it a little.
Motherboards are affected by the chip sets used on them; these chip sets determine how your computer uses data and what hardware your system can support. My system manual states that TRITON PCIset (chip set) is standard on the PB 640 motherboard. This chip set is also known as Intel 430FX PCIset (Triton is not an Intel name). This chip set provides the memory/cache control, PCI bus control, ISA bus compatibility, Local Bus IDE for my system. (For more info check out item # 10 The Triton Chip set on this page.)
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The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is essential to operate your computer; it provides the basic instructions that allow your computer to boot up. The BIOS is physically located in the Intel N28F001BX (1Mbit) Flash EPROM. Bios upgrades are available from Packard Bell on their web site. To learn more on BIOS try this page called Bios Information. BIOS installation can be risky, so please research this issue before you try anything. Here is a link on how to install bios:
General
Instructions on Bios Upgrades - Intel
My computer came with American Megatrends Version 1.00.03 12/08/95; now I have installed the new Thousand Oaks Flash BIOS 1.00.07CPOR. This new version, according to Intel's MMX Bios utility, is compatible with the MMX Overdrive Processor. Unfortunately I was not able to test my previous BIOS with this program. Please contact me if you have used the Intel BIOS test on any other BIOS versions for this motherboard. I felt the installation was simple following the directions in the file. I don't know a lot about BIOS. I have not noticed any difference yet, but I also have had no problems. So far it is like it did not matter if I upgraded my BIOS. If anyone else has a different experience, Please contact me
As time goes buy new hardware comes out that may not be supported by the BIOS. (Example of this is the MMX over drive processor, some BIOS versions can not support this technology). An upgrade of the bios can sometimes be performed. Packard Bell says that this file 142486.exe located in their bios files directory is an update for the bios of my system (PB640). According to PB "The most current flash BIOS update for the PB640 resolves the delay during bootup which was due to the hard drive time-out duration and also resolves the availability of IRQ's, specifically 14 and 15."
I had to upgrade the BIOS in order to run a K6-2 300 on this system, read more about it on my Mr. BIOS review web page.
Packard Bell says that this file 142605.exe located in their bios files directory is an update for the bios of 660 systems. It is called Fair Oaks Flash BIOS version 1.00.04 CP1R. I don't know allot about the the BIOS on the 660 motherboards since I have a 640.
The CPU is probably the central part of the computer; it does most of the work. There are several types of processors on the market today. Intel is the leader with their successful Pentium Processors. Intel has just introduced a new Processor called MMX. Click here to see the insides of the Pentium chip (Large Graphic File). Has any one used any other processors (AMD, Cyrix) on this motherboard?
For my PB640 I can have P75 - P166 CPU type 7 with 321 pins (Note some PB640 systems may not have the type 7 socket and can only upgrade to 133MHz). My system also supports the P5T Pentium overdrive processor. Below is a table of the Jumpers that may need to be changed if adding or upgrading to a different CPU. The CPU VR/VRE jumper (J6A2) may also need to be changed, check the new processor’s instructions for further information (1-2 = VR 3.3v, 2-3 = VRE 3.45 -3.6v).
Read here to find out how I put a Pentium MMX-233 MHz into my PB 640 System.
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| The J5K2 jumper is located just above the J5J2 and it controls the Password Protection and CMOS Clear. Read about it here. |
CAN I USE
THE NEW MMX 166 OR 200?
Packard Bell says "Unfortunately, the compatibility of the MMX processor and this motherboard has not yet been determined. Until this information is determined, we suggest that you do not attempt installing an MMX processor on your system". Now I have been told that they do not make the 640 motherboard anymore, so it is unlikely that they will ever test the compatibility of the 640 motherboard with MMX technology. PB has made their money on this motherboard already and have nothing to gain by testing this motherboard.
Well, if you want MMX and you want to have the split voltage then check out this device by Concept Manufacturing.
Some overdrive processor are available. Intel has a utility that will let you know if your BIOS is compatible with the MMX overdrive processors, it is called odpdiags.exe. This test shows that the BIOS version 1.00.07CPOR is compatible with the MMX technology.
Can I use non Intel Processors in my PB 640 and 660 Motherboard?
Not without a BIOS upgrade, that is what I have been told. Some non intel overdrives will work with the system.
Read about the K6 overdrive processor, this looks promising since it sounds like we will not be able to use a straight K6. I sent email to the company and their response is found below. If installs a non intel processor on their PB 640 or 660 then let me know I will post your comments here. I would love to get some Wintune results this processor for my Wintune project data base, so if you have some send them to me.
I tried a PowerLeap adapter with a K6 and the system would not boot.
We need a BIOS for the 640 in order to run the K6, the 640 system is great
with an intel 233 MMX processor, read about it
here. With a New third party BIOS however I am able to get 300 MHz
K6-2 to run in a PB 640.
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If
you are thinking about overclocking, I recommend that you read all of the
overclocking web pages that you can before you try it. There are some important
things to consider when overclocking. I have given a few
good links on this subject below.
Here are some comments from others that have overclocked their PB 640 systems, :
"I have a PB640 system with a P150.... I recently overclocked my CPU to a BUS speed of 66 x 2.5 for a P166. Runs GREAT! The Wintune & Quake Timedemo(2) results are an increase of 16.34% (overall)."
"Good Site. Very Informative I used your info and links to overclock my 120 to 133 thus far will go higher at a later time I'm sure. No problems Don't anticipate any as I have overclocked 486sx 25 to 40mhz with no problems after 2 years of running." Randy
200 MHz and PB said we could not do it.
Another person overclocked his 150 MHz to 200MHz. He said: "I thought you might like to know that on my PB640 I have gotten the processor speed to 200MHz." Chuck. With follow up emails I have found out that his jumpers settings are J5J1at 2-3 4-5 which is giving him 66MHz and the J5J2 is set to 1-2 5-6 which is the RESERVED setting. This reserved setting has to be a 3.0X multiplier to give 200MHz. If the J5J2 is active then it may be possible to upgrade or overclock to the 200MHz.
Since Chuck got 200 MHz, I have received three more message on this subject. Tony said "I followed your instruction and changed the J5J2 to1-2,5-6 and it booted up as a 200mhz ........runs great.......LOL...thanks for the info.."
"I have been try the over-clocking technique you mentioned on your web page and have included the wintune results. I did a test on the normal 150, then 166, then the 200, and then on the 200 after performing the suggested tweaks. Not only did Wintune say it is going fast, but I can definitely notice the difference." Andrew
"After finding your web pages via AltaVista, I clock-chipped my Packard Bell 640/150MHz first to 166MHz, and then "all the way" to 200MHz. I type this now on my "new/improved & 33% faster" system. Wow! Funny, just yesterday I was telling someone about clock-chipping and awoke this morning looking to see what this system would actually do. Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't pay a $1000.00 more for the "faster Intel CPU" <smile>. Who needs a new computer? <grin> > Thank you very much for making your information, knowledge, and experiences available online. For the future, your site will surely be one of the most frequently revisited by me. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom...and for a "new" brute/industrial-strength 200MHz computer (that just yesterday was a mere 150MHz weakling!)." Jim
Chuck, Andrew and Tony sent me Wintune 95 results, which can be downloaded from my Wintune 95 project Page,
Not every system can be overclocked- (The Processor itself may
be a limiting factor) Also check your BIOS version, without the latest
BIOS you may ot be able to use some of the Jumpers.
Read
My Overclcoking Experience - with a Dec 97 update
"I saw so many others trying the 200mHZ thing, I tried it, too. Unfortunately, I was the one that it didn't work for. I have the Pentium Pro XXI, 150mHZ machine. I changed the pins as described, and it did boot up at as 200mHZ, and it flew! But, each time it tried to start Windows 95, I kept getting errors. First, about some missing .VXD driver, then after re-booting, some device errors, and so on. Each time I re-booted, the system came up as 200mHZ, but different errors each time, and I never could make it to WIN95. Besides pin changes, do these other guys do anything else to make this work? Thanks again," Ed.
Others have also contacted me, but I think I made my point so I am not putting any more comments on this subject.
We would like to know if the J5J1 reserved setting is active and what clock frequency this would give, I would think that it could give us a 75MHz bus, but it is probably not active. I doubt it is active.
If any one else has Overclocked a PB640 contact me, good or bad. Also send me Wintune 95 results before and after overclocking. (Click Here for Wintune 95 Project Information)
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The 660 motherboard comes with 1MB and can be upgraded to 2MB, the 660 motherboard comes with 2MB factory installed and can not be upgraded.
My system came standard with 1MB of video memory. Back in August PB recommended Coastline as a source to obtain the needed chips. They quoted me $60 to buy the 2 chips to upgrade to 2 MB. That sounded like a lot of money so I decided to get the COAST (256KB) module since it was cheaper. Since then I received a couple of email letters that said they got the chips for under $20. I placed an order with JDR Microdevices and on Wed, March 5th, I have now received and installed my chips. There is no noticeable improvement so far other than two extra settings in Quick Res. I ran Wintune 95 and Norton Utilities bench mark tests and saw no performance increase. I down loaded a neat file that can identify Cirrus Logic Chips, it also will tell how much video memory is installed. (Click here to get idchip.exe)
Since then I received some 50ns chips from a relative, I put two of them in my system and they work fine since from what I have read it is ok to use faster RAM. The markings on the chips is "Siemens HYB14265J-50 Taiwan 9549" I did not see any difference in performance between the 50ns and the 70ns.
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"Hi I like your page, good info regarding your video memory upgrade. I bought the 2 chips to upgrade to 2mb video ram, and I got them both for $19.95 from a local computer store in N.J. They work great, not a great improvement in wintune but something from 5.0 to 6.1 overall video speed."
"I ordered two (2) 256K x 16-bit 70ns Video DRAM chips (Item No.: V256KX16B70N) from Autotime Corporation, 6605 SW Macadam Ave, Portland, OR, 97201, Tel: 503-452-8577. Total cost: $10.00 each (total: $20.00, non-taxable since an out-of-state order), back in July, 1996."
What will an extra MB of video memory do for your system? The following chart shows the maximum colors that your monitor can show at different resolutions, depending on the amount of video memory in your system and the resolutions that your monitor and computer supports. The 2 MB does not appear to increase the speed of the video (Based on Wintune 95).
For some reason I can not get the 800 X 600 16.7 million color setting, even though my manual states that I can get it. The rumor I have heard on this from both PBUSER and another individual on usenet stated that "It is a video chip limitation, I have the same manual you have and when I email Cirrus Logic they told me that PB misrepresented their product and claimed resolutions not supported by current drivers.. Oh well...". I asked PB about this and they said it was true. I just wish they told me when I fist complained that I could not get the 800 X 600 24 Bit color.
I was also not able to get 1280 X 1024 after following bad advice from one PB tech support, I called PB again for one more try. It turns out that to get the 1280 X 1024 I needed to use the generic video drivers in windows. The PB drivers were not working for some reason.
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Cache memory upgrade is an option on these motherboards (some versions of this motherboard may not be able to add cache) and some boards have the L2 cache installed directly on it at the factory. You will need to check your systems documentation to find out exactly what cache option your system has. The CELP upgrade option supports COAST modules using asynchronous, or burst and pipeline burst SRAM's and confirms to COAST specification 1.2.
I got more detail from a PB tech over the phone, he said that:
Other than the 16 kb of L1 cache, my system had no cache, but luckily my system has a CELP socket located at LS1E1 on the system's motherboard. This allowed me to add a COAST (256KB) module and it made a difference in my system's performance. I measured it in Wintune 95 and in Norton Utilities System Benchmark. In Norton Utilities I went from a 19 to a 30.8. Wintune 95 also showed a performance increase that pleased me.
I paid $40 from Coastline, I think I may have gotten the part elsewhere for less money. But they promised me that they would give me the right piece and I did not want any hassle. It was easy to install following the directions from Packard Bell, I just pushed it right into the the LS1E1 socket on the motherboard. I could not believe how easy it was to install. Once the L2 Cache is installed you should run Cachcheck 4 to determine if the L2 cache is working. If not be sure that the setup is set to Default = Enable, this can be done by using the F1 key during booting, and changing the setting.
Do these motherboards support 512 COAST modules?
July 97 - I think it is safe to say that 512 cache COAST moduals work just fine, I have recived countless emails from individuals that have tried it and it works jsut fine. The botton line is that 212k will increase your systems performance by 24%, the extra cache in a 512k will add another 4% increse. I find that the price difference is not that much, an an extra 4% is is 4%, might as well get as much performance out thise machines as posible. Thanks to all of you that took the chance an tried out 512 COAST modules, now I just have to get me one (The trick is to convice the wife of the need, but I have RAM and a hard drive on the top of my list already).
All the indicators that I have received show that 512k L2 cache does work on the 640 motherboard. The 82437FX chip is said to support 512KB of with a write-back cache policy (what ever that is).
I recived email from a few people that tried it and here is what one of them said "I have the PB640 and I just added a PNY's 512 Pipeline burst cache module. My Norton's benchmark went from 22 to 34.2. It only cost me $35." He also said that Cachecheck 4 showed that the full 521 was onboard. I asked him for more information and this is what he said "I got the chip from Tigersoftware. The phone number is (800) 888-4437 The name of it is PNY's L2 512k Pipeline Burst Cache. The order number is P56-1138 It's a little module that is 3/4" X 4 1/2" that should fit in the 4 1/2" brown plug-in on the PB640 motherboards".
All the information I can come up with gives no reason for not being able to use the 512 L2 COAST module. I guess the only way to find out is to buy one and try it out, just make sure you can return it if it does not work on your system.
Unfortunatly a few people have had problems with the 512 COAST modules
from JDR Microsystems. We do not know why, but when you do order
give all the specifications since not all cache modules are the same.
I have finnally added RAM, I bought 2 60 ns 16 MB SIMMS at Comp USA for $120. The SIMMS were made by PNY. This brings my system up to 48 MB and all I can say is, it runs SWEET. I love to have a lot of programs open at once, like netscape 3 and 4, real audio and a graphics editor or two. I was constantly waiting for my hard drive to finish swaping. Now, I can switch from application to application in an instant. Wintune did not show any major improvement in speed, but I notice a big differnce when I run multiple apps. My grapics also work better, for example paint, with large images might be a bit sluggish, but now it is soother.
I have also notices that netscape 4.0 is more stable with more RAM, I stoped using it because there were too many crashes. But since I got the RAM, it has not crashed. I will have to keep testing it. The yellow row in the upgrade table below is the amount of RAM I currently have in my system.
I found it easy to install, about 10 min. Once installed I had no problems, this was one of the easy upgrades I have done.
For instalation instructions check out this page at PNY.
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| Monitor Model Number | Windows 95 setting | Monitor Model Number | Windows 95 setting | |
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Add the refresh rate to Display properties, for Cirrus Logic chips it is file 95util.exe off the PB web site. Once downloaded double click on the file and then the refresh tab will appear in the display properties box. However before using read the following Usenet Post.
"BEFORE you switch the refresh rate, be CERTAIN that the rate selected is supported by the monitor to which the computer is selected. You can easily FRY your monitor by selecting the wrong settings. Now, right click on any blank area of the desktop. Select properties, then settings. Now, when you go back to the first "tab" on monitors, you are now going to see a "Refresh" setting which will be set to "optimum". You can now select any of the settings available. The range of available settings is determined by the make and model number selected. A tip: If you select the Packard Bell Monitors 1511sl and 1512sl, you will get a range of up to 85Hz vertical refresh non-interlaced. But once again, make sure that what you select is supported by your monitor." UseNet post
Several emails to PB have left it unclear as to which resolution my monitor support.
I opened my case and found that I have a 1.2 GB Maxtor (information about model 7336A) hard drive. It was manufactured 3/10/96 and was made in Singapore. The model can be determined by taking the hard drive out and reading the label on top. The drive came out (of my designer Tower) fairly easy, only 4 screws in all. After I did all this I found out that at boot up it tells me the manufacturer and model number of my hard drive. If I only knew this before I took it all apart.
Information on adding a second Hard Drive:
HOLD ON NOW - I found out this in not true, why they
told me that I do not know. I added a 3.5 Gig hard drive no problem.
Where your are limited, is with your operating system, if you have Windows
95a OSR1 you are limited to 2.0 gig partitions, so for a 3.5 Gig hard drive
all you need to do is to is have 1 2 gig partition and one 1.5 Gig partition.
The latest PB 640 BIOS has no problem with this.
