Flashing the BIOS CAN improve the processor support. It did for my ASUS A277N-266-VM, which now supports upto AMD Athlon 2600+. The ASUS boards come with an ASUS update utility which downloads the new BIOS and installs it in Windows. I am sure Gigabyte has somethhing similar and better.
You can read your BIOS version with AIDA32, check at the Gigabyte site whether a new version is available, and flash your BIOS. You shall however have to re-optimize your BIOS settings. HTH Argus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Carnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 8:18 PM Subject: Re: PCWorks: BIOS Revision number : Thanks for the info, Clint. : : Ya, the processor i have is an Athlon XP 2000. I have it in a Gigabyte MB : that i know supports it. Its true speed is 1.6874653, give or take a few : digits. I bought the ASUS MB thinking i could put a faster processor in it : until i saw the board number and went to their site. Ya, AMD has a Palamino, : Thunderbird, and maybe a couple other names for their processors as you : refered to. : According to ASUS, the very first POST screen will list, up towards the : top, a line that says : American Megatrends, Inc Bios Version XXXX : I've actually been looking pretty hard at just a 1.2 or a 1.333 (1.3 without : the extra 3's is a 200 FSB) for the board knowing that they would work. As : you suggested, i'd probably never know the difference in speed, but i : thought, what the heck, if i can use a 1.4 and come across one cheap, i'd : just put that in. The board does support DDR ram and I have some of the 266 : stuff so i need a processor that supports that also. AMD has 2 versions of : the 1.2 so i need to be sure I get the right one. They have about an 8 digit : model number that ends with a letter thats supposed to tell you which one : you have. As far as i know, a "B" is a 200 mhz FSB and a "C" is a 266. I : dont know that thats 100% accurate though. : : Roger : : : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Support-OrpheusComputing.com" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 8:14 AM : Subject: Re: PCWorks: BIOS Revision number : : : Heck I'm a nut case half the time....maybe more! Hee hee. : : I flash mobo's all the time. I haven't had any that went bad : or didn't work. I'm also sure when I do the BIOS updates the : mobo & supply is connected to a UPS since the electricity here : is "spastic". If the electricity cuts out during an update, : you're in bad shape. Even though it only takes a few seconds, : I can't chance it. : : I thought you said you COULD see the POST info on screen, you : can get your current BIOS # from that? At any rate, if your : mobo with the latest update will only support a 1.4ghz, don't : bother. You're not going to see any difference between a 1.3 : and 1.4 unless the 1.4 has more cache and a higher bus speed, : and even then it would be marginal at best. Note that AMD : CPU's do NOT display their CPU speeds in their respective model : numbers. An Athlon 2000 for example is not 2000mhz/2ghz. Also : in many BIOS updates where they mention any changes, and may : mention a CPU maximum change, they will be listed usually as : actual speed and not the AMD "name" of the CPU. Intel is not : like this. You have to go to the AMD site to get the actual : speeds, unless an AMD user here can tell you, I don't use AMD : CPU's so I don't know. That "Athlon 2000" might be 1.4ghz, so : that mobo MIGHT support your "Athlon 2000", but again like I : said above, it's not worth it unless the CPU architecture : changes a lot. Also note that with AMD CPU's, there are MANY : names. There could be an Athlon 2000 that is an MP CPU, or XP, : or even some others. Your mobo will only support specific : letters, as in, it may support the "MP" line of AMD CPU's, but : might not support the "XP line of AMD CPU's. If you're not : positive of what kind of Athlon 2000 CPU you have, on the : underside of CPU's you'll usually see the actual product code : from which an EXACT model #/line can be determined. : -Clint : : God Bless : Clint Hamilton, Owner : http://OrpheusComputing.com ) : : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Roger Carnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 7:48 AM : Subject: Re: PCWorks: BIOS Revision number : : : Thanks for the replies, Clint and Jorge : When i was writing that question, i was thinking "this is : really a stupid : question" !! : But honestly, i had never did or tried it before. Since the : BIOS reads the : video card ROM as one of the very first things, i thought by : chance the BIOS : could display its information without the processor. Where was : my mind??? : Yes, its pretty obvious that the processor has to be there to : process the : BIOS information so it can be displayed. All I needed was to : get the very : first screen to get the revision number. : I thought, well maybe it would display that information and : then give an : error code about no processor installed. About now you're : probably thinking : i'm a nut case....some days its probably true. : I've been to the ASUS site and looked up the info for this MB. : It says i can : only install up to a 1.333 processor unless it has BIOS : revision number : 1006. Then i can install a 1.4ghz. I know, very little : difference there. : This MB could be flashed to that revision number if needed but : i'm not sure : if i want to do that. My luck, something would happen and the : flash would : fail and i'd be left with some junk circuitry on a board. Have : you people : flashed alot of MB's?? Is it pretty safe with only a small : percentage of : failures? It even says on the ASUS site that your taking a : chance by doing : it. I was just hoping to know what it was before buying a : processor. : According to the site, my MB with the board version number : 1.03 can : only accept a max of the 1.4ghz. If i had MB number 1.10 then i : could put : almost any processor in it. I'm using this information as my : guide. I would : like to know what the BIOS is now, if posssible. I have an : Athlon 2000 : processor but didn't want to put it in there if its not : supported and have : something happen to it. I don't know if anything would happen : to it but if : the ASUS site is correct about their MB, theres no way that : this board can : support it since its version 1.03 : : Thanks again, : : Roger Carnell : : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Support-OrpheusComputing.com" : : You can't be serious.....right? ;-) The CPU is the "brains" : of a PC and you must have it to do anything. You must have the : CPU, memory and power supply as the bare minimum to boot up a : mobo, and of course a video card to SEE what's going on. : : In your case to find out the BIOS #, it may take a few tries of : hitting the "pause/break" key to halt the POST process. : Sometimes the BIOS # is at the top of the screen right after : the BIOS logo, sometimes it's at the extreme bottom. : -Clint : : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Roger Carnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : : : Hello, : : I've never tried this and don't want to damage the motherboard, : but can you : fire up a motherboard with just a video card and no processor : to see what the : BIOS revision number is? The MB is an ASUS A7A266. I would like : to know what : the BIOS is before purchasing the processor. : : Thanks, : : Roger Carnell ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? 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