Is this BIOS upgrade possible?

[bigliam1970]

Hi guys..

I have a Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo H PC (pentium D 820, 3 gigs RAM, XP sp2 etc) with the Gigabyte GA-8I945PE mother board.

As the MB model name suggests, the mobo has the intel 945P chipset. This chipset is primarily designed to run with the Pentium D processor family.

I am thinking of upgrading my CPU to the Core 2 Duo 6600 but am unable to get any clearly defined answer from Fujitsu Siemens as to whether the chipset will support this processor with the current BIOS version that's installed.

The mobo's specs indicate that, in theory, the Core 2 can be installed because it supports processors running at 1033 FSB.

After trawling through the Gigabyte website (which won't offer me any support whatsoever for the mobo cos its a model produced specifically for Fujitsu Siemens) I have noticed similar series mobos with the same chipset that have BIOS upgrades that are designed to work with the Core 2.

The BIOS update in question is listed as the 'GA-945PLM-DS2'.

Does anyone know if this update BIOS update is suitable for my chipset thus allowing me to upgrade to the Core 2, or am I likely to ruin my BIOS chip by taking the chance it will work.

I have kept the most recent BIOS flash software on floppy just in case I ever need to refer back to it.

If I were to flash my BIOS with the newer GA-945PLM-DS2 and it doesn't work, will I be able just to flash the BIOS again with the older GA-8I945PE to roll-back the machine to the previous working state?

I'm sorry if I've gone round the houses a bit guys, but I need to make sure that no chances are taken with this (I'm sure you understand).

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Big Liam

[Denniss]

It looks like your board is a special OEM mainboard and you are limited to use FSC Bios. Gigabyte does not seem to have a board with this name selling it under Gigabyte brand. You should not use a Bios designed for a diferent Gigabyte board even if it has the same chips or you may have a dead computer.

Even if the chipset is able to support the Core 2 the voltage regulator may not. As usually, intel modified the power specifications for the Core 2 so you need to have a matching OnBoard voltage regulator to use a Core 2. As this OEM system was built with a Pentium D it's more than questionable this board will support Core 2.

[bigliam1970]

Hi Denniss..

Thanks for your reply my friend.

Fujitsu Siemens, in their infinite wisdom, have indeed placed OEM mobos in their recent machines which is why I cannot get any info from them regarding the exact mobo model, they always refer me back to FS.

Fujitsu Siemens tech support sucks, and I mean SUCKS because nowhere on their site is any compatibility information available for chipsets and new CPU's.

A techie friend of mine reckons he can get a Core 2 Duo to run on my mobo, but as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm a little hesitant to let him try.

What are your opinions on the 'roll-back' idea i mentioned. Do you think that if I try this I wall be able to roll-back to BIOS if I'm unsuccessful?

Cheers..

Big L