Check out my hacked Satellite 1605CDS (+ question about CPU and LCD upgrade)

Treppiede

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2003
Messages
184
Good Morning Gentlemen.
I'll make the story as short as possible. A friend of mine recently gave me a spare Satellite 1605CDS with dead HDD he had laying around. The very next day the puppy had his old 6Gb replaced with an almost new 15Gb and the 64Mb of RAM upgraded to the maximum allowed which is 160Mb. Installed FreeBSD 5.3 on it and, together with my trusty Orinoco Wireless card, I started having a lot of fun with it. ;)

In a few days I started really having feelings for this little laptop, I mean it's old and it has only a 450MHz AMD K6-2, but I had upgraded it and the little thing was really making a big effort to run KDE3.3 at a decent speed. I eyed an old Cisco Aironet with external Coax mount and antenna on my friend's desk at work, and the day after here's what I was working on:

2.jpg


Back together:
Toshi_Con.jpg


With Antenna:
Toshi_Ant.jpg


KDE Loading...
Toshi_KDE.jpg


As you can imagine, I can do fairly clean work when I really want to, and with this newest mod I am officially in love with my little Satellite on steroids and I really want to bring this to the next step.

I have two questions for those of you that are extremely familiar with this family of Satellites:

1- The CPU sits on a regular Socket 7. I spotted a row of dip-switches and tables printed on the pcb (frequency, multiplier and voltage). You know where I'm getting. I may have an extra K6-2 500 sitting somewhere at my house, and I know I will be slapping that bad boy on the socket very soon. My question is, has anybody ever done this, and can the motherboard handle a 500MHz K6-2?

2- The LCD on this laptop is really disappointing. It's only a 12.1", and although I don't mind the size much, what really pisses me off is that I'm having trouble running any resolution/color depth higher than 800x600 with 256 colors. A good friend of mine has an even older Dell laptop (PII 300MHz) and his supports 1024x768 with 16bit color. Looks a million times better than mine, especially while in KDE. I would really like to upgrade the LCD on this Satellite. My question is, does anybody know if there's a higher-quality LCD out there that will connect to the Mobo ports of my Satellite? Could be just the LCD or the whole frame/latches assembly, I don't care as long as I can mount it on this laptop.

Any input will be immensely appreciated, and please let me know what you think of my project so far.

Regards,

Walter
 
Treppiede said:
Good Morning Gentlemen.
I'll make the story as short as possible. A friend of mine recently gave me a spare Satellite 1605CDS with dead HDD he had laying around. The very next day the puppy had his old 6Gb replaced with an almost new 15Gb and the 64Mb of RAM upgraded to the maximum allowed which is 160Mb. Installed FreeBSD 5.3 on it and, together with my trusty Orinoco Wireless card, I started having a lot of fun with it. ;)

In a few days I started really having feelings for this little laptop, I mean it's old and it has only a 450MHz AMD K6-2, but I had upgraded it and the little thing was really making a big effort to run KDE3.3 at a decent speed. I eyed an old Cisco Aironet with external Coax mount and antenna on my friend's desk at work, and the day after here's what I was working on:

[ img]http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/Satellite/2.jpg[/img]

Back together:
[ img]http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/Satellite/Toshi_Con.jpg[/img]

With Antenna:
[ img]http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/Satellite/Toshi_Ant.jpg[/img]

KDE Loading...
[ img]http://s100000760.onlinehome.us/Data/Satellite/Toshi_KDE.jpg[/img]

As you can imagine, I can do fairly clean work when I really want to, and with this newest mod I am officially in love with my little Satellite on steroids and I really want to bring this to the next step.

I have two questions for those of you that are extremely familiar with this family of Satellites:

1- The CPU sits on a regular Socket 7. I spotted a row of dip-switches and tables printed on the pcb (frequency, multiplier and voltage). You know where I'm getting. I may have an extra K6-2 500 sitting somewhere at my house, and I know I will be slapping that bad boy on the socket very soon. My question is, has anybody ever done this, and can the motherboard handle a 500MHz K6-2?

2- The LCD on this laptop is really disappointing. It's only a 12.1", and although I don't mind the size much, what really pisses me off is that I'm having trouble running any resolution/color depth higher than 800x600 with 256 colors. A good friend of mine has an even older Dell laptop (PII 300MHz) and his supports 1024x768 with 16bit color. Looks a million times better than mine, especially while in KDE. I would really like to upgrade the LCD on this Satellite. My question is, does anybody know if there's a higher-quality LCD out there that will connect to the Mobo ports of my Satellite? Could be just the LCD or the whole frame/latches assembly, I don't care as long as I can mount it on this laptop.

Any input will be immensely appreciated, and please let me know what you think of my project so far.

Regards,

Walter

My question to you is, where did you find that amazing antennae setup, and what's involved in setting up something like that.

To answer one of your questions, most, if not all motherboards will handle a K6-2/500 if the chip currently in-use is a K6-2/450 (500mhz was just about the same chip as the 450)
all you need to do is find the correct jumper set-up, and if all else fails, couldn't you just set it back to the 450? Experimenting is fun, my friend, that's why they invented science!

edit: also love the fact that doom3 is sitting behind the laptop... lol, that cracks me up
 
ScHpAnKy said:
My question to you is, where did you find that amazing antennae setup, and what's involved in setting up something like that.
Glad you liked it. That antenna setup belonged to an old PCI-to-PCMCIA adapter (for desktop) that held the Aironet card. The Kit came with a second PCI cover (backplate) where the Coax connector was mounted on. Remember the old AT motherboards where the PS/2 connector was held by a PCI cover? Well, the PCI cover with the Antenna connector reminded me of that setup. I took the connector apart from the backplate, stripped my trusty Satellite naked and started finding the best spot to mount it on. Three holes drilled later, a bit of internal filing, a couple of compressed air blows on the area and I was putting the baby back together.

Experimenting is fun, my friend, that's why they invented science!
Eheheh... yeah that is what I was gonna wind up doing ultimately. I was just wondering if anybody had done it before me, just curious. The other question, the one about the screen, is the one I am mostly curious about, since I don't have spare LCD screens laying around and I can't afford to buy a few to find out which one fits... ;)

edit: also love the fact that doom3 is sitting behind the laptop... lol, that cracks me up
Eh... that is what my gaming rig behind is for... but you know what? I am liking FreeBSD so much I may windup installing it on the gaming rig (sacrificing its gaming capabilities) just to see how smoothly it's gonna run. ;)

Regards,

Walter
 
...so does anybody have a suggestion as far as LCD compatibility is concerned?

Thanks,

Walter
 
You may just need a new video card driver to run at higher resolutions? Find out what kind of GPU it has, see if it's supported natively in the kernel. If not then you may need to get some drivers so that you can do 1024x768
 
miazmaticdotcom: Thanks, I'll look into that.

Scheizekopf said:
Nice mod. Very clean looking.
Thanks man, it was fun...

I'll keep you guys updated.

Walter
 
As was said before, this mod is very clean looking.
I may attempt something like this if I can find decent parts.
 
The real upgrade for a CPU would be a K6-2+. Lower power consumption, the ability to change the multiplier with software, and on die L2 memory cache. See this review, http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1318&p=2

They are only available from a few places, including Ebay, and http://www.upgradeability.com/K6plus/

I replaced the K6-2 475 in my 1625CDT Toshiba with a K6-2+ 450. It runs at 523 on stock voltage with no heating problems. I'm shopping for a K6-2+ 550, just waiting for a good bid on Ebay. I'd like to have a K6-3+ 550, but I recently saw one sell for $202.00 on Ebay! So that's out.

Yours probably has the same motherboard that mine does. The RAM limit is probably the cacheable memory limit of the Ali chipset. With the L2 memory cache on the motherboard instead of on the CPU, increasing the memory beyond what the chipset can cache can actually decrease performance. This would no longer be an issue with a K6-2+ or K6-3+, since the memory is cached in the CPUs on die L2 cache. I have read a report of a 256 memory stick working in a 1625CDT, and I intend to try it myself when I find a good enough deal.
 
I love it!! Y'know, seeing that little beauty gives me the idea that there just might be a future in classic laptop restoration. Think of it as the geek generation's equivalent to restoring old cars back to their glory. Definitely keep us posted on your progress!!
 
I have a question for you (actually a couple). Does your motherboard have an Ali chipset? And if so, could you post the silkscreened DIP switch settings?
 
great mod! very very clean.

in regards to the video, you just need to find out which GPU it is, and try to find drivers for it for KDE. then you should be up and running at 1024x768, 16-bit color. :D
 
My 1625 has ATI Rage AGP 2x with 4 megs of video memory. I run it at 800x600 32 bit 85 Hz. I use Windows XP. I suspect yours is the same.
 
Gentlemen,
thank you again for the nice comments and accept my apologies for being a few days late in repying but I just got back from a quick holiday trip and I am catching up with things...

Repoman: I am glad you own a CDT and are familiar with this type of Satellites, and thanks for the great CPU advice, I will read the entire article you pointed out on Anandtech and purchase that badboy very soon. I will also take the beast apart again and take come nice macros of the chipset, gpu and dip switches so I can come back here and post them. Just got my new battery and I've been breaking it in (charging/discharging it in cycles) to maximize its performance.

Thanks again for the help, I will post back with pics.

Walter

PS=what kind of LCD does your 1625CDT have?
 
I'm not sure what you mean by what type. It appears to be identical to the one yours has.

I experimented with the jumper settings, and found I could set it to 5.5 multiplier, and 100 MHz FSB. My 450 runs at 550 just fine. But it can't manage 600 with laptop cooling.

I just bought a K6-3+ 400 that runs at 1.6 vcore default (my K6-2+ 450 runs at 2.0). The seller says they run at 600 with 2.1 volts with no problems. I'm hoping that is the case for me. It is very close to being able to play Divx movies (Divx playback is smooth, but the sound gets out of sync with the video) and DVDs (micro pauses) right now. A tiny increase in performance should do the it, and hopefully this CPU will do the trick.
 
repo man said:
I just bought a K6-3+ 400 that runs at 1.6 vcore default (my K6-2+ 450 runs at 2.0). The seller says they run at 600 with 2.1 volts with no problems. I'm hoping that is the case for me.
Great news man... is that one of those CPUs that the guys over at UpgradeAbility are selling? Please let me know how your CPU upgrade proceeds, also if you don't mind take a few pics of your jumpers/dip-switches/gpu/chipset so we can compare them.

Regards,

Walter
 
I finally found the time to take the puppy apart once again,
and here are some of the pics I had promised:

ALi Chipset:
ALiChipset.jpg


DIP Switch (horrible quality):
DIP.jpg


DIP Switch Settings for CPU:
Settings.jpg


Repoman: what do you think? Do we have the same motherboard? Can you post pics of yours, and most importantly can you update me on the status with your K6-III+ upgrade?

Thanks,

Walter
 
Thank you for posting the pictures. Our motherboards are apparently the same. Those switch settings are the same as what I found mine to be by experimenting. The voltage setting is nice though, I'd have had to disassemble mine to get that. My Ali chip is also a 1533, though the numbers underneath read 9949 and TV07. Probably a later revision.

I'm still waiting to hear from the seller on Ebay. I used Buy It Now and paid immediately with Paypal, so I don't understand what the hold up is.

My K6-2+ 450 at 550 is a noticeable improvement in speed over the original K6-2 475. But twice the L2 memory cache will be a further improvement, and with luck I'll be able to run it at 600.
 
repo man said:
The voltage setting is nice though, I'd have had to disassemble mine to get that.
What do you mean? You don't have a row of DIP switches to adjust voltage at all?
(I did have to disassemble mine to take those pics yesterday ;))

My Ali chip is also a 1533, though the numbers underneath read 9949 and TV07. Probably a later revision.
Interesting... I will do some research on that. Just a quick note, I tried a slight overclock yesterday by switching multiplier from 4.5 to 5.0 and it posted fine, however the CPU was declared to be a K6-2 475MHz. Didn't want to take chances and slapped a live CD in the drive to avoid any OS corruption in case of stability... and guess what? Knoppix would crash while booting, I needed to get the baby up and running so I didn't look much into it and brought it back to stock settings. I will have to refresh my memory on K6-2 architecture (multiplier locks etc.) before I play with CPU settings again.

I'm still waiting to hear from the seller on Ebay. I used Buy It Now and paid immediately with Paypal, so I don't understand what the hold up is.
What's his feedback? I am sure you'll be fine.

My K6-2+ 450 at 550 is a noticeable improvement in speed over the original K6-2 475. But twice the L2 memory cache will be a further improvement, and with luck I'll be able to run it at 600.
Excellent... please let me know the results, I can't wait to order my K6-III.

Regards,

Walter
 
What I meant was I didn't want to have to disassemble mine just to see the DIP switch settings. I was able to determine the others by experimenting, but that wouldn't tell me the voltage. So thanks again for the Jpeg.

I received my K6-III+ 400. It was a bit of a disappointment. It would run at 550, but heat artifacts were visible watching a Divx movie. At 500, it wasn't as fast as my K6-2+ 450 at 550. I guess an extra 128K L2 memory cache can only increase performance so much. I would recommend that you buy a K6-2+ 550. It ought to do 600 even with the poor cooling these laptops have. The increase in speed overcomes the advantage of increased L2 cache.

As you've found, standard K6-2s are very poor overclockers. The K6-2+ and K6-III+ are better.

Our computers use the same BIOS, so any doubt about our motherboards being the same is eliminated. Unfortunately they do not recognize the K6-2+ or III+ properly ( calls it a K5 on the POST screen). Some of the improvements aren't taken advantage of. But it still makes a pretty big difference in performance. Maybe I'll learn how to mod BIOS, and do the fixes for K6-2+ support. But probably not.

I'm not a Linux guy, but I'm rolling mine back to Win98. Better driver support than XP.
 
You may just need to add "1024x768" to the "Modes" section of your XF86Config file.

I would guess a video chipset that old would/should be supported by the stock kernel.
 
repo man said:
So thanks again for the Jpeg.
No problem, glad it helped.

I received my K6-III+ 400. It was a bit of a disappointment. [...] I would recommend that you buy a K6-2+ 550. It ought to do 600 even with the poor cooling these laptops have.
Hey man, sorry you have been disappointed by the performance of your chip, hopefully as you use it you'll discover performance differences that you didn't notice yet.

Some of the improvements aren't taken advantage of.
Damnit... like what for example? Did you notice benefits from PowerNow! at all?

Maybe I'll learn how to mod BIOS, and do the fixes for K6-2+ support. But probably not.
That would kick some serious ass. I thought of that too, does anybody have any site/tutorial to get us started in custom BIOS modding?

I'm not a Linux guy, but I'm rolling mine back to Win98. Better driver support than XP.
Are you sure you wanna do that? Why don't you try a UNIX-based OS distribution since you are switching? FreeBSD is my favorite, but you may wanna try something like Slackware for better driver support. Worst comes to worst you can just slap a Knoppix CD and still have some fun with it.

miazmaticdotcom said:
You may just need to add "1024x768" to the "Modes" section of your XF86Config file.
Thanks for the advice man, but I already tried that. The screen is just what it is... :(

Oh well, no big deal...

Walter
 
Since it runs 550 at 2.0 without overheating, I went back to my K6-2+ 450. I'll probably sell the K6-III+ 400 on Ebay, and buy an K6-2+ 550 which I should have done in the first place. See this article, http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1406

q3_640.gif


PowerNow allows you to change the multiplier with software. This allows you to experiment with overclocking without setting the DIP switch, and also allows you to slow down the CPU if extending battery life is critical. So it is a definite improvement.

Features such as Write Allocate can be enabled by freeware applications, but most of them are only Win9X compatible. See this page, http://www.upgradeability.com/K6plus/utilities.htm

After installing 98, a Divx version of Return of the King played back without the problems I had with XP. I had even trimmed off the excess background services using Blackvipers guide.

I installed Red Hat on a spare computer a couple of years ago. I decided that Linux wasn't for me.

Jan Steunebrink has a site where he has free patched BIOS for many older motherboards, http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/k6plus.htm . He gave me some pointers about how it is done, but it isn't easy.
 
Here is a great site for tips on how to mod BIOS, http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/index.php .

There is a program out called Tweakbios that would allow the changing of many things such as memory timings, etc. But since it costs $20.00, it is spurring me to see if I can find a way to mod this BIOS.
 
Repoman: so what's new buddy? What did you decide with your CPU? Any conclusions? I am still waiting to hear your final words before investing in a new brain for my Satellite on steroids. ;)

Walter
 
My plan is still to get a K6-2+ 550 and overclock it to 600 Mhz. But I'm overbudget right now, I finally upgraded to a 9800 pro for my desktop.

I was wrong about the screen refresh rate. 800x600 @ sixty Hz is the max supported, but that looks fine. I got confused by the dual monitor refresh rate. The Toshiba drivers for the video don't support Open GL. There are Radeon drivers that do, but they don't support the dual monitor hardware. So I installed the Radeon drivers, then reinstalled the Toshiba ones. When Windows prompted me about "A file is being replaced that is newer than the replacement, do you want to keep this file?", I chose no everytime. Now I have dual monitor support and it supports Open GL. So I ran 3D Mark 2001, and scored 421 points! No gamer this machine. But it is all the laptop I need.
 
repo man said:
My plan is still to get a K6-2+ 550 and overclock it to 600 Mhz. But I'm overbudget right now
So you confirm that your K6-III didn't do the trick, uh? :(
So according to your experiments the K6-2+ 550 is our best bet?
They have several options on 'upgradeability.com',
which one do you recommend from the table on their site?

Let me know man, I really could use some extra CPU powah... ;)

Walter
 
My suggestion is to shop ebay to get a K6-2+ 550 for around $35.00. Upgradeability raised their prices, and now their least expensive K6-2+ 550 is too expensive. I've seen them go for $30.00 on ebay.

But any K6-2+ or K6-3+ will be an improvement over your K6-2.
 
I have a Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS that I want to upgrade from a K6-2 450 MHz to a K6-2+ 533 Mhz processor. I have purchased the processor from Upgradeability via eBay for $36 including shipping but it has not yet arrived. I tried opening the laptop last weekend but couldn't get it open without forcing something so I stopped. I checked to make sure that I had all of the screws out but it did not want to separate along the LCD side of the unit. Since it sounds like both Walter and Repo Man have been inside your units, can you give me a little guidance as to what the problem might be? I have been inside lots of desktops but never a laptop. Also, I can't find any info on the Internet that tells me the jumper settings for clock speed and voltage. Can you give me any guidance here as well?

Note: I see that Walter commented that his unit is maxed out at 160 mb of RAM. I thought this to be the case with mine until I bought a chip on eBay last week. I found a 256 mb chip for $10 buy it now and $5 shipping. For that price I took a chance and jumped on it and it works great in my laptop. Therefore, I now have 288 mb of RAM instead of 160 mb. I am happy to pull the chip and check the details if you are interested in the info.

Elton
 
Treppiede has had his further apart than I've had mine. But to get to the CPU, you just have to get the keyboard up. You don't need to take the LCD apart, just move the screen until it is parallel to the main part of the computer (open it all of the way up). The plastic part on the top has to come off (the part where the LEDs are). It snaps into place, but if you are careful, and use something like a very small flat screwdriver, you can lightly pry it inwards to release the tabs that hold it down. Once it is out of the way, you'll see the screws for the keyboard. It (the keyboard) also has screws that come up from the bottom of the computer. After you get the keyboard out of the way, it is pretty self explanatory. Laptop CPU sockets don't have a cam lock; you have to pry the CPU sideways both to release it from the socket, and to insert it. There is a small piece of plastic that holds it in place (you'll figure it out).

Treppiede has posted a Jpeg of the dip switch that controls voltage, bus speed, and multiplier in one of his earlier posts. I'd save that one somewhere, it is useful information.

Good buy on the memory. I mentioned before I'd read a post somewhere that mentioned using a 256 stick in one of these sucessfully. It's good to get confirmation it will work.

I also plan to upgrade the harddrive. These things have a pretty slow harddrive.
 
Thanks repo man. I would have never figured this out. I got inside and accessed the processor. My new chip hasn't come in yet but I expect it any day. I will just leave everything apart until I get it. I can see the dip switches there by the processor. Now the pictures Walter posted make sense. That is very helpful information.

The fan looks very wimpy. Do you know of a replacement that would be better? Also, I would like to replace my hard drive as well. Let me know where you get your replacement. If I find anything good, I will let you know.

Elton
 
Hey Guys, sorry for the delay in replying.

Elton, I am glad "repoman" was able to help you get to your processor and that my pics seem to be useful. If you have any further question post ahead and I am sure that between me and him we'll be able to solve your problems, we literally dissected our laptops as you can see. Let us know your impressions as soon as you install the new chip.

As far as the memory upgrade, I would immensely appreciate if you could post highly detailed chip information in here, including the manufacturer code on the chips themselves, because I would absolutely love to be able to upgrade mine to 288Mb RAM.

"Repoman": As far as upgrading my own processor, I will go ahead and follow your advice and just save money by getting a K6-2+ 550MHz. I don't remember if they come in different voltage... if that's the case what voltage do you recommend? I doubt I will be able to benefit from the PowerNow! features because I am not running Windows, hopefully the BIOS will be able to recognize the new CPU smoothly and that cache issue will speed it up nicely.

Regards,

Walter
 
I've never seen a K6-2+ 550 with anything but 2.0 core voltage. We both might want to wait and see how Ewell's K6-2+ 533 does. I'm sure it will do 550 at 2.0, and it will probably do 600 at 2.0.

Treppiede, you might want to do some searching around for Linux utilities that would allow you to change the multiplier, and enable some of the enhancements of the mobile CPU. But even if there are none out there, it will make a noticeable difference in speed.

Ewells, the HSF does have a pretty small fan. But that shouldn't really be an issue. I'm sure you won't need better cooling to run your new 533 at 550, and you probably won't need it to run at 600 MHz either. I did remove the thermal pad, and used AS-5 instead. But the thermal pad is pretty thick. I had to file the heatsink down some to make up for the lost thickness. I still had too large of a gap, and I ended up making a shim out of aluminum foil to put between the heatsink and the CPU. I coated both sides with AS-5, and it seems to be working ok.
 
I got my K6-2+ 533MHz chip in yesterday and didn't waste any time playing with it. The first thing I did was install it in a Super socket 7 desktop I have because I am considering an upgrade for it as well. This motherboard is a DFI K6BV3+/66 with 768 mb RAM. The new chip performed well at 550 MHz/ 2.0 volts. I got a 29% increase in CPU performance over my previous 500 MHz K6-2/ 2.2 volt as measured by the benchmark program PCMark2002. Before and after CPU scores were 627 and 807 respectively. I don't know how to get it to 600 MHz with the jumper settings I have. I have heard that it can be done but 100 x 5.5 is all I can figure out.

I then installed the chip in my Toshiba at 550MHz/ 2.0 volts which is also the maximum I know how to achieve. If you guys know a way to get it to 600MHz, please let me know and I will try it. According to a before and after benchmark using PCMark2002, I got about a 33% increase in CPU performance. Before and after CPU scores were 615 and 820 respectively. The big shock was how much cooler the laptop ran with the new chip. The previous chip ran so hot that I had to make some cardboard shims and place under the unit to allow better airflow and cooling. Now the shims are not needed and the unit is cool to the touch. I don't know why, but I expected a bigger increase in performance. However, I am still happy with the upgrade.

Walter, I took the cover off and snapped a picture of my new RAM chip but I can't figure out how to post it. I tried a simple cut and paste but that doesn't work. I tried the "insert image" icon and that doesn't work for me either. Tell me the secret and I will put it up.

Elton
 
Repo man,
I'm interested in what you did with your cooling setup. You said that you "removed the thermal pad, and used AS-5 instead." I started to remove the thermal pad because it tore in several places but I didn't know what to use in it's place so I put it back as best I could. What is AS-5?

Elton
 
Walter,
I am interested in hearing more about Linux on your laptop. I am tired of the instability of Win98. I tried Win2000 but I had driver issues and went back to Win98. I tired Linux back in December but again had driver issues. I started with Knoppix live which I really like a lot. I enjoy FireFox which I use with Win98 and I also got started with OpenOffice which I am also using with Win98. I tried installing Red Hat but it crashes on the install. I also tried installing Mandrake and it also crashes on the install. That put me back to Knoppix. The big issue is the drivers. I am using a D-Link DWL-G630 wireless card in my notebook and I never could get Linux to work with it. I also have a problem with the printer drivers. Can you offer any advice for a Linux newbie. What drivers have you found for your unit and where might I find the ones I need? Also, I don't know how to install drivers in Linux even if I found them. It is not as "point and click" friendly as Windows. What's a good website I can go to to learn these things? Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Elton
 
AS-5 = Artic Silver 5.
The CPU benchmark program you're using doesn't tell the complete story. Some applications are very cache dependent, and they greatly benefit from the full speed L2 cache. Applications that are not will only see a small increase in performance.

For 600 MHz, you need to set the multiplier to two. For any k6-2 from 350 MHz on, this is interpreted as six. Or you could go here, http://www.upgradeability.com/K6plus/utilities.htm , and download Central Tweak Unit. It allows you to use PowerNow to change the multiplier from Windows. You can then try out 600 Mhz without changing the settings on your DIP switch. It also can enable Write Allocate.
 
repo man said:
I've never seen a K6-2+ 550 with anything but 2.0 core voltage.
'Repoman', what about one of these low-voltage puppies? The minimum voltage for our motherboards seems to be 1.8v, so what if I run one of these 1.7v 450MHz processors @ 600MHz 1.8v? Should run reasonably cool and stable, right?

Elton, congratulations on getting your new toy, I am happy for your performance increase and as 'Repoman' said other benchmarking applications will show you higher performance differences when it comes to cache-dependent programs.

AS-5 = Artic Silver 5

ewells55 said:
I took the cover off and snapped a picture of my new RAM chip but I can't figure out how to post it.
You need to host the picture somewhere online and use the code (IMG)www.youraddress.com/picture.jpg(/IMG) to insert the pic on this thread. Make sure you replace the parenthesis with square brakets, I didn't use them otherwise the board engine would have looked for a picture and given an error. Also make sure the picture is fairly lightweight and small in size. By all means feel free to send me the full resolution picture via email ( treppiede(at)myway.com ) and I will edit it and host it on my server so everybody on this thread can see the details of the "misterious memory chip". ;)

As far as Linux/UNIX/BSD goes, it's a great thing that you are getting into it, it's a whole new world and once you start learning and appreciating the power you'll never leave it. I run Windows XP only for gaming. The subject is pretty delicate and I don't really want to turn this thread off-topic, I will just point you to a great link I found recently which really covers a lot when it comes to my favorite OS: FreeBSD.

Link. Start by reading the "3 reasons to install FreeBSD" page and keep in mind that if you learn BSD you can use almost all the command on any other Linux/UNIX box. Feel free to email me and I'll give you my IM nicks so we can have some real-time conversations to get you started.

Regards,

Walter
 
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