Kayak XA-s Upgrade

[Rainer Krey]

I recently bought a cheap Kayak XA-s with a single PII/300MHz CPU. Now I'm
wondering how far I can upgrade the cpu. Can the mainboard use cpus with
more than 500 MHz? And is the VRM installed on the board suitable for other
processors (e.g. a P3/500 Katmai) or do I need to replace the installed VRM?
Is there anything special about upgrading to a second cpu? The hp service
manual says that the 2nd cpu needs to be of same type, with same cache and
speed as the 1st - is this enough or is there a need to install two exactly
identical cpus?

Thanks in advance for your answers


Rainer Krey

[Gereon Wenzel]

Rainer Krey schrieb: I recently bought a cheap Kayak XA-s with a single PII/300MHz CPU. Now I'm wondering how far I can upgrade the cpu. Can the mainboard use cpus with more than 500 MHz?

The max listed in the pdf-manual is 450MHz,
but partsurfer has a 600MHz Model as well (D7992N)
And is the VRM installed on the board suitable for other processors (e.g. a P3/500 Katmai) or do I need to replace the installed VRM?

Check your VRM, the PII Klamath CPUs (233-333) use 2.8V like the PPro,
(This can be done by any VRM)
the later Deschutes and Katmai need less Voltage, but more current.
This means you will need a VRM according to intel 8.2 specs.
(search google for intel_vrm_spec-8.2.pdf)
Looking for two of these myself and they seem to be hard to find.
Check http://partsurfer.hp.com for 0950-2837
Its the origianal HP part #for the Delta 05S2020A
Is there anything special about upgrading to a second cpu? The hp service manual says that the 2nd cpu needs to be of same type, with same cache and speed as the 1st - is this enough or is there a need to install two exactly identical cpus?

Best is to use two CPUs of exact same hardware revision,
but usually it works with same type and model.

Gereon

[Ben Myers]

Intel recommends matched steppings for multi-processor configurations: "same
frequency speed, cache size, and runs the same system bus speed." Processors
having different steppings can have minor timing variations in microcode,
leading to system lockups and other hard-to-diagnose failures.

Quoted from the Intel web site...

"How to Match Processor Steppings

The easiest way to match steppings is to compare the 5-character test
specification numbers on the top of Pentium II Xeon processors. The number
starts with an "S" and is followed by 4 characters (for example, "SL2RH"). "

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 14:38:27 +0100, Gereon Wenzel <wenzel@ibh.rwth-aachen.de>
wrote:
Rainer Krey schrieb: I recently bought a cheap Kayak XA-s with a single PII/300MHz CPU. Now I'm wondering how far I can upgrade the cpu. Can the mainboard use cpus with more than 500 MHz?The max listed in the pdf-manual is 450MHz,but partsurfer has a 600MHz Model as well (D7992N) And is the VRM installed on the board suitable for other processors (e.g. a P3/500 Katmai) or do I need to replace the installed VRM?Check your VRM, the PII Klamath CPUs (233-333) use 2.8V like the PPro,(This can be done by any VRM)the later Deschutes and Katmai need less Voltage, but more current.This means you will need a VRM according to intel 8.2 specs.(search google for intel_vrm_spec-8.2.pdf)Looking for two of these myself and they seem to be hard to find.Check http://partsurfer.hp.com for 0950-2837Its the origianal HP part #for the Delta 05S2020A Is there anything special about upgrading to a second cpu? The hp service manual says that the 2nd cpu needs to be of same type, with same cache and speed as the 1st - is this enough or is there a need to install two exactly identical cpus?Best is to use two CPUs of exact same hardware revision,but usually it works with same type and model.Gereon

[Ben Myers]

The Intel test specification number is often called the sSpec.

Altho the quoted reference talks about Xeon processors, Intel uses the sSpec
across all of its processors, beginning a long time ago with the Socket 5
Pentium processors... Ben Myers

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 14:38:37 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben
Myers) wrote:
Intel recommends matched steppings for multi-processor configurations: "samefrequency speed, cache size, and runs the same system bus speed." Processorshaving different steppings can have minor timing variations in microcode,leading to system lockups and other hard-to-diagnose failures.Quoted from the Intel web site..."How to Match Processor SteppingsThe easiest way to match steppings is to compare the 5-character testspecification numbers on the top of Pentium II Xeon processors. The numberstarts with an "S" and is followed by 4 characters (for example, "SL2RH"). "... Ben MyersOn Thu, 13 Nov 2003 14:38:27 +0100, Gereon Wenzel <wenzel@ibh.rwth-aachen.de>wrote:Rainer Krey schrieb: I recently bought a cheap Kayak XA-s with a single PII/300MHz CPU. Now I'm wondering how far I can upgrade the cpu. Can the mainboard use cpus with more than 500 MHz?The max listed in the pdf-manual is 450MHz,but partsurfer has a 600MHz Model as well (D7992N) And is the VRM installed on the board suitable for other processors (e.g. a P3/500 Katmai) or do I need to replace the installed VRM?Check your VRM, the PII Klamath CPUs (233-333) use 2.8V like the PPro,(This can be done by any VRM)the later Deschutes and Katmai need less Voltage, but more current.This means you will need a VRM according to intel 8.2 specs.(search google for intel_vrm_spec-8.2.pdf)Looking for two of these myself and they seem to be hard to find.Check http://partsurfer.hp.com for 0950-2837Its the origianal HP part #for the Delta 05S2020A Is there anything special about upgrading to a second cpu? The hp service manual says that the 2nd cpu needs to be of same type, with same cache and speed as the 1st - is this enough or is there a need to install two exactly identical cpus?Best is to use two CPUs of exact same hardware revision,but usually it works with same type and model.Gereon

[Rainer Krey]

Check your VRM, the PII Klamath CPUs (233-333) use 2.8V like the PPro, (This can be done by any VRM) the later Deschutes and Katmai need less Voltage, but more current. This means you will need a VRM according to intel 8.2 specs. (search google for intel_vrm_spec-8.2.pdf) Looking for two of these myself and they seem to be hard to find. Check http://partsurfer.hp.com for 0950-2837 Its the origianal HP part #for the Delta 05S2020A

The 950-2837 is exactly the VRM that is currently installed. So I need only
one more VRM. I'll have a look at ebay (Yesterday there were 7 suitable
modules, but they are all gone now...)

Thank You for your Answer


Rainer