Help Needed Bios Upgrade Possible? Fujitsu Siemens PC

Don't ask how to over-clock.
Post Reply
BarnseyB
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:26 pm

Hi,
Wondered if anyone can assist, I bought the above pc brand new last May and when installing the bundled Fujitsu Siemens Drivers/Manual off the bundled Fujitsu CD a .pdf file is installed which says I have a PTM900 mobo (socket LGA775) which supports processors up to Intel Core 2 Duo.

The problem is, I have a Pentium 4 3.2 Mhz (with HT) (processor number = 641) and am hoping to upgrade to Core 2 Duo, but when checking the Bios options on boot up, it does not seem to offer the ability to change the CPU clock ratio(although screenshots of the bios in the afore mentioned manual show this clearly on the ‘Frequency & Voltage Control’ screenshot and are shown as changeable to 15X,16X and 17X.

The only visible options on this particular Bios screen on boot up are 'auto detect pci clock'(currently enabled) and 'spread spectrum' (currently enabled). The manual does say however that there is a ‘built in Switching Voltage Regulator to support CPU auto detection. That is, it has the ability to recognise the CPU voltage, clock, ratio and enables users to set up the CPU frequency from the’requency & Voltage Control’screen’.

I have flashed the bios previously with the most up to date flash available on the F-Siemens website, but the manual and actual bios screens still differ as described above.

Fujitsu Siemens helpdesk have been next to useless with any questions I have asked. When I asked them about this initially they said the Mobo would only support Pentium 4 chips (630 and 641) but when I referred them to the motherboard manual I received they could comment only :

‘From looking at the manual you provided it certainly does list it as supporting Core 2 Duo processors. We could not be specific in which particular Core 2 Duo processors it supports. Fujitsu Siemens Computers have only tested and validated the system board with the 2 processors as stated in our previous response.We can be no more specific.’

Am I currently able to upgrade the processor? Or will I definitely need some kind of Bios update to enable me to upgrade the processor?

I’ve also included information regarding the mainboard and bios usiing SiSoftware Sandra Lite XII.SP1. The PC is a FSiemens Scaleo Pi 1500 which came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed (which I’ve just updated to Service Pack 1).


Any help would be greatly appreciated!








System
Manufacturer : FUJITSU SIEMENS
Model : PTM900
Serial Number : DFDX005947
ID : 2D322C6A-DB115023-40000080-7BA39CCA

System Chassis
Manufacturer : OEM
Type : Desktop
Can be locked : No
Version : OEM
Serial Number : DFDX005947

Mainboard
Manufacturer : FUJITSU SIEMENS
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : 1 Processor(s)
MPS Version : 1.40
Model : PTM900
Version : PCB 1.X
Serial Number : C6E7205988
System BIOS : 05/23/2007-P4M900-8237A-6A7L8F06C-00
Chipset : VIA PT890

System Memory Controller
Location : Mainboard
Error Correction Capability : None
Number of Memory Slots : 2
Maximum Installable Memory : 1GB
Bank0/1 - A0 : DIMM DDR2 1GB
Bank2/3 - A1 : DIMM DDR2 1GB

Chipset 1
Model : FIC P4M900 Host Bridge
Revision : A1
Bus : Intel AGTL+
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Maximum FSB Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Width : 64-bit
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
I/O Queue Depth : 8 request(s)
Priority Master Queue Depth : 4 request(s)
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 6.25GB/s

Chipset 1 Hub Interface
Type : V-Link
Version : 7.00
Multiplier : 2/1x
Speed : 1x 66MHz (66MHz)
I/O Queue Depth : 9 request(s)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR2 4.0-3-3-12 CR2
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR2 4.0-3-3-12 CR2
Bank 2 : 512MB DDR2 4.0-3-3-12 CR2
Bank 3 : 512MB DDR2 4.0-3-3-12 CR2
Supported Memory Types : ECC DDR DDR2
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 4-way
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 267MHz (534MHz)
Maximum Memory Speed : 2x 333MHz (666MHz)
Multiplier : 8/6x
Width : 64-bit
Memory Controller in Processor : No
Refresh Rate : 21.44µs
Power Save Mode : No
Fixed Hole Present : No
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 4.17GB/s

Environment Monitor 1
Model : ITE IT8712F LPC
Version : 8.00
Mainboard Specific Support : No

Temperature Sensor(s)
Board Temperature : 7.00°C td
CPU Temperature : 30.00°C td
Auxiliary Temperature : 34.00°C

Cooling Device(s)
Auto Fan Speed Control : No
System Fan : 1048rpm

Voltage Sensor(s)
CPU DC Line : 1.26V
Aux DC Line : 1.79V
+3.3V DC Line : 3.31V
+5V DC Line : 4.97V
+12V DC Line : 11.54V
-12V DC Line : -12.03V
-5V DC Line : 0.78V
Standby DC Line : 5.03V
Battery DC Line : 3.12V

AGP Bus(es) on Hub 1
Version : 3.05
Maximum Data Transfer Rate : 4x
Multiplier : 1/2x
Fast-Writes Enabled : No
Isochronous Mode Enabled : No
Addressing Enabled : 32-bit
Aperture Size : 64MB

PCI Bus(es) on Hub 1
Version : 2.30
Number of Bridges : 4
PCI Bus 0 : PCI (33MHz)
PCI Bus 2 : PCIe (99MHz)
PCI Bus 3 : PCIe (99MHz)
PCI Bus 4 : PCI (33MHz)
PCI Bus 128 : PCI (33MHz)
Number of PCIe Lanes : 17
Multiplier : 1/6x

LPC Hub Controller 1
Model : FIC Standard PCI to ISA Bridge
Revision : A1

USB Controller 1
Model : FIC VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
Revision : K1
Version : 1.10
Interface : UHCI
Channels : 2
Speed : 48MHz
Supported Speed(s) : Low (1.5Mbps) Full (12Mbps)
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

USB Controller 2
Model : FIC VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
Revision : K1
Version : 1.10
Interface : UHCI
Channels : 2
Speed : 48MHz
Supported Speed(s) : Low (1.5Mbps) Full (12Mbps)
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

USB Controller 3
Model : FIC VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
Revision : K1
Version : 1.10
Interface : UHCI
Channels : 2
Speed : 48MHz
Supported Speed(s) : Low (1.5Mbps) Full (12Mbps)
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

USB Controller 4
Model : FIC VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
Revision : K1
Version : 1.10
Interface : UHCI
Channels : 2
Speed : 48MHz
Supported Speed(s) : Low (1.5Mbps) Full (12Mbps)
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

USB Controller 5
Model : FIC VT6202/12 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
Revision : I7
Version : 2.00
Specification : 1.00
Interface : EHCI
Channels : 8
Companion Controllers : 4
Supported Speed(s) : Low (1.5Mbps) Full (12Mbps) High (480Mbps)
Addressing Support : 32-bit
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

Expansion Slot(s)
PCI-E 16X (1h) : PCIe 32-bit +5V PME Full-Length Used (VIA ProSavageDDR P4X600,Apollo KT400/A/600 CPU to AGP Bridge)
PCI-E 1X (2h) : PCIe 32-bit +5V PME Full-Length Available (VIA P4M900 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller)

Port Connector(s)
PRIMARY IDE : ATA
SECONDARY IDE : ATA
FDD : 8251 FIFO / Floppy Disk
COM1 : Serial Port 16450 / 9 Pin Dual Inline / DB-9 pin male
LPT1 : Parallel Port ECP/EPP / DB-25 pin female / DB-25 pin female
Keyboard : Keyboard / PS/2 / PS/2
USB0 : USB

Performance Tips
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Warning 2507 : Mainboard has too few memory slots. Upgrading the memory may be difficult or expensive.
Warning 2508 : All memory slots are full. Upgrading the memory may be difficult or expensive.
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2513 : AGP Bus is unused or AGP card not fully AGP compatible.
Tip 2525 : Current AGP data rate not optimal.
Tip 2536 : System has no SMBus/i2c/BMB bus support.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

General Information
Manufacturer : Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Version : 255.255
Date of Manufacture : 23 May 2007
Plug & Play Version : 1.00
SMBIOS/DMI Version : 2.40
(EE)PROM Size : 512kB

General Capabilities
Can be Updated/Flashed : Yes
Can be Shadowed : Yes
Is Socketed : Yes
Supports Plug & Play : Yes
Supports ESCD : No
Supports Enhanced Disk Drive : Yes
NEC PC-98 Spec Compatible : No

Power Management Features
Supports APM : Yes
Supports ACPI : Yes
Supports Smart Battery : No

Boot Features
Supports Selective Booting : Yes
Supports CD/DVD Boot : Yes
Supports PCMCIA/CardBus Boot : No
Supports LS-120 Boot : No
Supports ZIP Boot : No
Supports i2o Boot : No
Supports FireWire/1394 Boot : No
Supports BIOS Boot Block : Yes
Supports Interactive Network Boot : No

Performance Tips
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Tip 212 : BIOS can be shadowed so check whether it is.
Tip 211 : BIOS is flash-able and socketed so it can be upgraded when needed.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.
BarnseyB
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:26 pm

also got this when running esupport.coms utility:

BIOS Type: Phoenix-Award
BIOS Date: May 23rd 2007
BIOS ID: 05/23/2007-P4M900-8237A-6A7L8F06C-00-None
BIOS OEM: Version WFA26FS - 6.00 PG
Chipset: VIA 82C364 rev 0
SuperIO: ITE 8712F rev 8 at port 002E
Manufacturer: FUJITSU SIEMENS
Motherboard: PTM900
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1.0
Maximum Memory: 1024MB
Installed Memory: 2048MB
Memory Config: Slot1:1024 Slot2:1024
Denniss
BIOS Guru
Posts: 3153
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Near Hannover (CEBIT) Germany
Contact:

Probably this or a similar board built by FIC and OEM'd for FSC.
http://www.fic.com.tw/product/motherboa ... 900lf.aspx

Conroe is a Core2 variant, all others Pentium 4 or Pentium D. A Core2 may run or not. Do FSC bios release notes say something about CPU support ?
BarnseyB
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:26 pm

the motherboard manual on the FS cd says there's support for 1066Mhz FSB and core 2 duo. I'd do a screen shot of the manual but not sure how to do this as its a .pdf file

Theres no detailed bios notes for the 3 updates on the fujitsu siemens website http://support.fujitsu-siemens.de/de/support/index.html or alternatively http://support.fujitsu-siemens.com/com/ ... index.html

serial number of my pc is DFDX005947 (if you enter this in the relevant box on their website)

The board you showed me looks very much like the one in my pc. I'll take another look at it when i get chance.


EDIT: just compared the motherboard you found and the picture of the one in my manual . it is identical. below i have copied/pasted some details from the manual i recieved from FS with my pc:

PTM900 Mainboard Manual

Main Features
�� CPU
LGA 775 socket for Intel Celeron D/ Pentium4/ Pentium D/ Core 2 Duo Processor compatible with Hyper-Threading Technology FSB 533/800/1066 support.
�� Chipset
North Bridge: VIA® P4M900
South Bridge: VIA® VT8237A
�� Memory 2 Memory Sockets:
Support DDRII 400/533/667 MHz
total Memory Size up to 2 GBs
�� Expansion Slots
1 PCIe *16
1 PCIe *1
2 PCI Slots
�� IDE Connections
2 IDE Connectors - PIO Mode, Ultra DMA 66/100/133
Up to 4 Devices
�� SATA Connections 2x SATA with RAID0,1,JBOD
�� Audio Features
High Definition Audio:
edwin
The Hardware Archivist
Posts: 6286
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 7:11 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Main Features
􀂄 CPU
LGA 775 socket for Intel Celeron D/ Pentium4/ Pentium D/ Core 2 Duo Processor compatible with Hyper-Threading Technology FSB 533/800/1066 support.
so what is your question again?
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
BarnseyB
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:26 pm

the bios does not have any option to alter the cpu frequency in the Frequency and Voltage Control screen although the manual says the board offers 1066mhz support.

Is there any point trying to install a core 2 duo cpu on the board bearing in mind that FS helpdesk originally said it didnt support it and because of the missing bios option.

The only visible options on this my Bios screen on boot up are 'auto detect pci clock'(currently enabled) and 'spread spectrum' (currently enabled). The manual does say however that there is a ‘built in Switching Voltage Regulator to support CPU auto detection. That is, it has the ability to recognise the CPU voltage, clock, ratio and enables users to set up the CPU frequency from the’requency & Voltage Control’screen’.

I have flashed the bios previously with the most up to date flash available on the F-Siemens website, but the manual and actual bios screens still differ as described above.

Fujitsu Siemens helpdesk have been next to useless with any questions I have asked. When I asked them about this initially they said the Mobo would only support Pentium 4 chips (630 and 641) but when I referred them to the motherboard manual I received they said :

‘From looking at the manual you provided it certainly does list it as supporting Core 2 Duo processors. We could not be specific in which particular Core 2 Duo processors it supports. Fujitsu Siemens Computers have only tested and validated the system board with the 2 processors as stated in our previous response.We can be no more specific.’


Am I currently able to upgrade the processor? Or will I definitely need some kind of Bios update to enable me to upgrade the processor? and if i can can you give any assustance or advice as to how this can be achieved ?
Denniss
BIOS Guru
Posts: 3153
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Near Hannover (CEBIT) Germany
Contact:

The board may have a FSB autodetect function using CPU pins signalling the FSB needed.
Otherwise you have to look for an FSB800 Core 2.
edwin
The Hardware Archivist
Posts: 6286
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 7:11 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Fujitsu-Siemens is either being lazy or protecting their line of Premium-priced Core2 systems. I'll see if I can find any definite info on 1066 FSB support. It might take some time though...
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
BarnseyB
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:26 pm

thanks for taking the time trying to assist me :)
edwin
The Hardware Archivist
Posts: 6286
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 7:11 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

ok. as for a definite answer on this board: I can't find any info. As for any other board using this same chipset: they all have 1066 FSB support. As for not being able to set multiplier and/or FSB: it's all autodetect these days, if you want manual control you'll need a custom bios made by esupport or similar companies, it will cost money. Why did they cripple/limit the bios: so people that really don't know what they're doing cannot burn out their motherboard by accident and make an insurance claim with Fujitsu-Siemens and/or FIC. I'd say you can run some of the Core2's in there, even the 1066 but your mileage may vary, I can't find any hard facts about it.

Bottom line: if you want to have a known upgrade path, build your own system. If you buy a branded box, it is a box with known specs and little or unknown upgrade path.
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
Post Reply