BP6 P3 Mod Worklog

[trowakage]

Been lurking for a while, figured I should post up my progress and successes so far. I posted this initial update over at the BP6 FAQ section already, but I wanted a thread to myself.

I followed Derek's article and managed to get 2 P3 1ghz to run on the BP6 w/o any adapters, although they are only at 750mhz at this point as I still need to implement the CLKREF circuit, and replace the caps (especially EC10).

I couldn't for the life of me get the pins to unsolder from the socket as instructed, so I just ended up breaking the pins on the processor instead (not like I needed to make sure they would work on another board or something, this is the only S370 setup I've got).

One thing of note, you have to modify BOTH sockets at once. I tried to modify just one to see if I could just run a single P3, it didn't post. It worked after I modded both sockets and stuck the 2 P3's in there (I'm running the modified RU bios with HPT 1.25).

Everything is stable thus far, running the thing with a GF4 TI4200, and an ATX1.0 spec 400W PS (plenty of amps on the 5V rail). Luckily I don't suffer from the VTT problem as much (I have a Niko-made Q6 regulator rather than the dreaded Unisem).

[trowakage]

I initially got the BP6 and the 2 P3 1ghz cD0 chips from some scrap computers that were being decommisioned at school. And the rest of the parts (the video, sound, network, optical drives, HDD, etc.) are all scraps from friends (you'd be amazed how many people throw away their vid cards just because the fan is broken)

So, specs thus far:

2x P3 1ghz cD0 stepping 133FSB chips @ 7.5x100=750mhz
2x generic Coolermaster socket 7 coolers
Abit BP6, socket modded, running modified RU Bios w/ HPT 1.25
3x 256mb PC133 SDRAM
Geforce4 TI4200 128mb w/ TT Crystal orb
Maxtor 40gb HDD (the loud one, before they had FDB)
LG 16x DVDROM
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Linksys 10/100 ethernet

Really happy with the results, hoping to do the EC10 mod, and replace the caps with some Panasonic FM's soon.

[davd_bob]

Welcome aboard. Its always good to see a new poster.

I love people that think they need to throw away old stuff cause the fan stopped or such.

We sometimes encounter a bit of a lag between when we hit submit and when something appears to happen. I personally just hit the BACK button after submit to make sure I don't double or triple post. When I have(double posted) in the past I usually go back and edit one post, and subject line removing all info and just leaving a coment about it being a double post. That way people will only answer the active post and you wont have to track both. We've all done it at least once.

In your first coment you said BOTH sockets have to be modified at the same time. I think thats because you are making the pin that controls SMP and with that pin active, the CPU is waiting for another CPU to synk up with it before it will even post. Thats just my guess.

Anyway, if you can find P3s designed for 100FSB you can get full speed out of them. Make sure to watch the caps though. By now most BP6s with cap problems have been returned to Abit for RMA(free) repair or fixed in other ways or retired.

If the board acts flakey, check the 12 caps around the CPUs. If the board seems mostly ok but the temps are out of wack check the "4-packs" to see how they are.

Once again, glad to see you.

[trowakage]

So some updates with my new P3 BP6.....

Swapped out the socket 7 coolermasters HSFs for 2 foxconn S370 coolers, had to push the top caps out a bit for them to fit, but the contact is fine.

Reinstalled xp with HPT 1.25 drivers, and ACPI on, didn't read the install guides and recommendations here before I installed last time.

Firstly, I noticed that when I installed Spybot that it's self-checksum check did not pass......checksum failures usually are a sign of memory corruption (it's a fresh install, I don't think I'd get viruses just yet ). Everything was stable, but I figured I'd run Memtest anyways, sure enough, about 2-3 passes in, a bunch of errors pop up. Pretty sure it's not thermal either (modules barely warm to the touch)

Turns out TWO of the 3 sticks I have are bad (I have 2 PQI and one Micron brand 256mb PC133), which is weird, because these are fresh pulls from old, WORKING, computers at school. Only the micron one is error free. Perhaps the PQI are PC133 modules that actually don't work at PC100 (I've only heard about those on other forums)

Anyhow, also decided to swap out the GF4 for a GF1 with VIVO (I don' game on this machine anyways, and sometimes I'd like to hook up my PS2 to the comp)

Also a friend donated a DVDRW to me, one that he says doesn't write the DVD's he buys, I could've told him just to update the firmware, but he bought another drive already.

[tenchimuyo93]

nice work going on there............. i might have to check that article myself.

[trowakage]

Ok, so here's the final build specs of my BP6 computer

2x P3 1ghz cD0 133FSB chips @ 7.5x100=750mhz, 1.75V
2x Foxconn S370 coolers
Abit BP6, socket modded, running RV Bios w/ HPT1.25
256mb Micron-brand PC133 CL2 SDRAM
Asus V6800 Geforce DDR 32mb w/ VIVO
Maxtor 40gb HDD w/o FDB
Toshiba SD-R5272 DVDRW
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Soundcard
Linksys LNE100TX 10/100 NIC
Generic 400W ATX 1.2 power supply w/ single 120mm fan

Next on the to-do list:
1) Devise some kind of retention mechanism for the socket 7 HSF I'm putting on the NB. If i turn the thing 45 degrees, it fits well, and the clip direction matches the holes for the greenie, so I should be able to fabricate something that uses those holes

2) Replace the caps, just measured the lead distance at 3.5mm, which might be a problem because some of the Panasonic FM's from Digikey only come in 5mm lead distances (it should still work, just won't look as nice)

3) Maybe buy a real power supply, but it's hard to find ATX 1.2 spec PSU's nowadays (more amps on 5V rail, which is what the P3 gen processors used). The current one came with another case that I bought, so I'm sure it's cheap, but it's working good right now.

4) Definitely thinking about getting a bigger drive for my main NF2 rig, and transfering the WD FDB-equiped drive to this one, this old maxtor is LOUD.

[hyperspace]

2007 and individuals are still using the BP6!

Amazing!

[Derek]

2007 and individuals are still using the BP6!

Amazing!

You bet!

[InactiveX]

Turns out TWO of the 3 sticks I have are bad (I have 2 PQI and one Micron brand 256mb PC133), which is weird, because these are fresh pulls from old, WORKING, computers at school. Only the micron one is error free. Perhaps the PQI are PC133 modules that actually don't work at PC100 (I've only heard about those on other forums)

Some interesting stuff you've posted there trowakage.

I use 3 sticks of PQI 256MB 133MHz at 100MHz, and have not had any problems. I don't see why they wouldn't work at lower than their rated speed. Maybe yours both came from a bad batch.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

[cavity]

My BP6 won't run stable with 3 ram sticks no matter what they are. With just 2 sticks it's fine. Maybe your ram is ok and its just unhappy about having three.

[p3n1x]

my bp6 runs fine with 3 sticks. i forget the brands, but 3 x 256mb fine. ran my ipcop for over a year. now ive retired it from ipcop, its goin to host some files now