How to determine the PCB of a ASUS MB

[volta2000]

Could anybody explain to me how to determine the PCB of my Asus
A7V333? I'd like to upgrade my system with a new CPU. On the ASUS
support page is explained that for certain CPU the PCB must be 2.00 or
higher. Thanks for helping!

 

[Stephan Grossklass]

Could anybody explain to me how to determine the PCB of my Asus
A7V333?

What you're looking for is the PCB revision, or revision (REV.) in
short. This is printed somewhere on the board, usually either next to
the name or between two slots.
The PCB itself, btw, *is* the board (Printed Circuit Board), a little
technical inaccuracy on sides of Asus.

Stephan

 

[Paul]

What you're looking for is the PCB revision, or revision (REV.) in
short. This is printed somewhere on the board, usually either next to
the name or between two slots.
The PCB itself, btw, *is* the board (Printed Circuit Board), a little
technical inaccuracy on sides of Asus.

Stephan

There is the number called PCBA, which stands for Printed Circuit Board
Assembly, and is a different number than the Rev. The PCBA helps
Asus keep track of the BOM (Bill Of Materials) or grocery list of
components soldered to the board. So, for example, if a voltage
regulator was changed part way through a production run of a certain
revision of PCB, then the PCBA number should be changed.

The revision number changes, any time that the copper tracks on
the PCB change.

Examples of the two numbers are shown at the bottom of this page.
For a lot of hardware issues, knowing the revision number is
sufficient information:

http://www.asuscom.de/support/FAQ/faq077_Pentium_III_CU.htm

HTH,
Paul

 

[volta2000]

There is the number called PCBA, which stands for Printed Circuit Board
Assembly, and is a different number than the Rev. The PCBA helps
Asus keep track of the BOM (Bill Of Materials) or grocery list of
components soldered to the board. So, for example, if a voltage
regulator was changed part way through a production run of a certain
revision of PCB, then the PCBA number should be changed.

The revision number changes, any time that the copper tracks on
the PCB change.

Examples of the two numbers are shown at the bottom of this page.
For a lot of hardware issues, knowing the revision number is
sufficient information:

http://www.asuscom.de/support/FAQ/faq077_Pentium_III_CU.htm

HTH,
Paul

Thanks guys! My A7V333 is rev. 1.04 though. Now, I initially wanted to
put a XP 3000+. If I understand the AUSUS CPU support page correctly,
it's not possible to run this CPU with my MB. Right?

 

[Paul]

(e-mail address removed) (Paul) wrote in message

Thanks guys! My A7V333 is rev. 1.04 though. Now, I initially wanted to
put a XP 3000+. If I understand the AUSUS CPU support page correctly,
it's not possible to run this CPU with my MB. Right?

If you look here, the general trend I see, is if the FSB needs to be
166x2=333MHz, then a rev 2 board is required. Your FSB is officially
limited to 266MHz.

http://www.asus.it/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

But that is only the "official" story.

One way to find out, is enter "A7V333 2500+" into groups.google.com,
as the 2500+ would be a more likely upgrade choice for a lot of
users, due to the price.

I found a reference to this post, from my Google search:

http://forums.amdmb.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2059968

So, it is possible to use processors not on the Asus list, but
you'll need to make sure the BIOS is upgraded, and have luck
on your side. In this case, it is a matter of whether the FSB
can hack it or not.

I also found this thread, which talks about AGP/PCI clock, and
the consensus was that the 1/5th divider needed is there.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

HTH,
Paul

 

[volta2000]

If you look here, the general trend I see, is if the FSB needs to be

166x2=333MHz, then a rev 2 board is required. Your FSB is officially
limited to 266MHz.

http://www.asus.it/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

But that is only the "official" story.

One way to find out, is enter "A7V333 2500+" into groups.google.com,
as the 2500+ would be a more likely upgrade choice for a lot of
users, due to the price.

I found a reference to this post, from my Google search:

http://forums.amdmb.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2059968

So, it is possible to use processors not on the Asus list, but
you'll need to make sure the BIOS is upgraded, and have luck
on your side. In this case, it is a matter of whether the FSB
can hack it or not.

I also found this thread, which talks about AGP/PCI clock, and
the consensus was that the 1/5th divider needed is there.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

HTH,
Paul

Thanks Paul!

So my next question would be the following: how one can determine
whether a 1/5th or a 1/4th divider is installed on the MB?

Cheers

 

[Paul]

If you look here, the general trend I see, is if the FSB needs to be
166x2=333MHz, then a rev 2 board is required. Your FSB is officially
limited to 266MHz.

http://www.asus.it/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

But that is only the "official" story.

One way to find out, is enter "A7V333 2500+" into groups.google.com,
as the 2500+ would be a more likely upgrade choice for a lot of
users, due to the price.

I found a reference to this post, from my Google search:

http://forums.amdmb.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2059968

So, it is possible to use processors not on the Asus list, but
you'll need to make sure the BIOS is upgraded, and have luck
on your side. In this case, it is a matter of whether the FSB
can hack it or not.

I also found this thread, which talks about AGP/PCI clock, and
the consensus was that the 1/5th divider needed is there.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

HTH,
Paul

Thanks Paul!

So my next question would be the following: how one can determine
whether a 1/5th or a 1/4th divider is installed on the MB?

Cheers[/QUOTE]

A PC Geiger PCI card can measure the frequency of the PCI bus.
A frequency counter can measure it as well. On a motherboard
that gets the PCI and AGP clocks direct from the clockgen,
reading the clockgen datasheet can also tell you what divider
is used. Not all motherboards/chipsets do that.

I don't know how the Sandra program figures it out.

Paul