Compaq Deskpro Processor Upgrade

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MaxTek's picture
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Compaq Deskpro Processor Upgrade

I picked up two 17" Viewsonic monitors and a Compaq Deskpro with mouse and kb for a $1 today at a yard sale. I spent my hard earned money to get the 17" monitor.

After everything booted and worked perfectly I was wondering if I can upgrade the "socket 7" Pentium I 233mhz processor with an AMD processor or any other Socket 7?

Is this doable?

MaxTek

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Possibly...

If you've got the Compaq Deskpro I think you do (2000 series, wide, flat box with the power button the top right corner and 2 5.25" drive bays on the right) then you *may* be able to put an AMD processor in there. However, there are a few things to be aware of:

1) Check the voltage of the original processor and the processor you plan to put in there. I have found that you can be out up to 0.05v-0.10 with no dire consequences, depending on the processor. This could fry your CPU and/or motherboard, so do be careful. Just because it's worked for me, doesn't mean it will work for you. I wouldn't experiment with expensive hardware, or hardware that I couldn't afford to break.

2) Some of those Compaq boards are only capable of a processor speed of 233Mhz using the available jumper configurations. Again, if you have the model I'm thinking of, the jumper combinations and possible clock speeds should be on a placard on the inside of the top cover. If 233Mhz is the most the board can support, I wouldn't tempt fate by switching the processor, I'd just leave well enough alone. Mhz for Mhz, I haven't noticed much difference between an AMD K6 and a Pentium I.

Now, the K6-2 vs. PI/II, that's an entirely different story...

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

The Czar

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looks like a dumpster addition than

First off thank you very much for taking the time with a very informative answer. The bottom of the computer says "series 3564" but on boot up it says "Deskpro 2000". So you hit the nail right on the head.

As per the placard on the lid its highest setting in the chart is 233mhz. So according to your suggestions, don't bother with a processor upgrade...correct? Especially since it only has 64mb of ram as well.

The reason I am confused is your last paragraph pointing out the AMD K6-2 processors.

MaxTek

P.S. too bad the PS is so friggin' big or I could put the motherboard etc in my LC II case...(for the hell of it).

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The AMD K6-2 processors were

The AMD K6-2 processors were a strange kind of beast. I had one in an IBM Aptiva, and at 333Mhz it schooled any Pentium under 433Mhz. I believe that the K6-2 was one of the last Socket 7 CPUs. I've never tried to install my K6-2 in my Compaq, but I have put it on other boards that originally ran Pentium I processors with complete success.

In terms of that machine, you may see a little increase with a K6-2, but it probably wouldn't be noticable.

Cheers,

The Czar

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AMD K6-2 Processor

That's too bad because they are pretty cheap on Ebay. Guess I will have to stay with a Pen. I.

Thanks.

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PowerLeap

I don't know if they still sell them, but at one time PowerLeap sold socket adapters that allowed the addition of an AMD K6-2 400mhz chip. The adapter allowed the proprer voltage to be set for the faster K6-2 chips. They also sold an upgrade kit with the processor included.

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Powerleap AMD

That's very interesting, thanks. I will look into it.

MaxTek

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Re: PowerLeap

I don't know if they still sell them, but at one time PowerLeap sold socket adapters that allowed the addition of an AMD K6-2 400mhz chip. The adapter allowed the proprer voltage to be set for the faster K6-2 chips. They also sold an upgrade kit with the processor included.

Does that include motherboards which otherwise can't fully utilize a 400Mhz chip because of bus speed/multiplier restrictions?

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i believe

6K-3's are also socket 7. But they use a very high voltage IIRC

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Powerleap Adapters

AMD K6-2 chips cannot sadly be used directly on the motherboard.

I have successfully installed and used the Powerleap Adapter (also sold under the name Evergreen Spectra) to upgrade the box to an AMD K6-2 and it run Windows XP quite nicely with enough RAM. You could no doubt run Linux on it and get it to do a fair bit if you wanted - network/web server, etc.

I suspect I may have the most modded Compaq Deskpro 2000 that's still in operation...

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Possible

I upgraded my COmpaq Presario Socket 7 to 500MHZ with a AMD k-6 chip

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