VOGONS


First post, by KCompRoom2000

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Hello, I have a Dell Optiplex GX150 desktop which I posted about several pages back on the Bought these (retro) hardware today thread. Even though this is a later model (judging by the March 2002 manufacturing date), it appears to have a 1 GHz Coppermine Pentium III SL52R installed.

I was thinking about getting a Tualatin Pentium III processor for it at some point in the future. I have some questions:

1. Is processor compatibility limited depending on the motherboard revision? I've been doing some online research and came up with the assumption that there are at least four different models of the GX150 motherboard - 038HRF, 05J890, 02E933, and 02H240 - only one of which (the 02H240) was confirmed to be Tualatin compatible. The 02H240 is the one I have so I should be good to go in that theory.

2. According to the service manual, some GX150 motherboards had replaceable VRM modules. So even if the motherboard is supposedly compatible, can the VRM be a factor that limits CPU compatibility? Upon doing an image search on GX150 motherboards I noticed the VRM part of the board varies on appearance even on the same motherboard model. (I can attach a photo of what the VRM module looks like if I confused you here)

3. Does the GX150 (assuming it's Tualatin compatible) support the Pentium III-S processors (with 512K cache) or does it have to be a regular Pentium III (with 256K cache)? I know how some of the later Dells had a CPU whitelist in the BIOS so I was wondering if this was affected also.

4. What are the chances of frying the motherboard (and CPU) by trying to use a Tualatin (FC-PGA2) CPU on a mobo that was designed for Coppermine (FC-PGA) CPUs? I would hate to ruin my system if this turns out not to work as intended. Especially now that P3 hardware is getting harder to find.

Hopefully this helps me decide if the CPU is all I need or if I need to get another motherboard to satisfy it.

Reply 1 of 2, by KCompRoom2000

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

After a month of posting this thread with no answers whatsoever, I decided to test this out myself by replacing the 1 GHz Coppermine Pentium III (SL52R) with a 1 GHz Tualatin Celeron (SL5ZF), and it actually worked.

IMG_1702.JPG
Filename
IMG_1702.JPG
File size
2.18 MiB
Views
757 views
File comment
1 GHz Tualeron happily installed in the GX150
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Tualeron GX150.png
Filename
Tualeron GX150.png
File size
276.2 KiB
Views
757 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Upon doing a quick google search a while ago, I stumbled upon this old forum post which confirms that any GX150 with a rev-B Intel 815E chipset will directly support a Tualatin CPU.

powerleapusa from the link above wrote:

You won't need any adapter to upgrade to a 1.4 GHz "Tualatin" Pentium-III, if you have revision "B" of the i815 chipset. Check it with CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.org). Any "A" version will require an adapter, but "B" versions don't.

As you can see in the bottom CPU-Z window on the screenshot above, my system has an 82801BA (ICH2) southbridge which supports it, only the early models with the 82801AA (ICH) southbridge are truly limited to Coppermine CPUs.

The myth has been debunked.