M2NPV-VM to support Phenom II & Athlon II?

[bossalinie]

Good deal on the update. Meanwhile on trying to figure out what I am going to do between the Athon II X3 450 that I can get for about $40 and Athon II X2 260 that I can get for about $30, I was debating on just spending a little more to get the Athlon II X4 640 that I can get for about $70, which is actually on the CPU support list already for the 5005 beta bios.

I was trying to perform the cheapest yet most effective upgrade to this PC, but I suppose spending a little more and getting the x4 will be better in the long run, unless the performance difference between these x3 and x4 models isn't worth the $30 difference. Looking at the AnandTech benchmark between the 2, the X4 640 does out perform the X3 450 in almost everything, but not by much, and not as drastic as comparing the X3 450 vs the X2 260. That being said, is the $30 price difference between the X3 450 and the X4 640 worth getting the X4 640 instead?

[opethfan]

Howdy folks, sorry for bumping an old thread, but I have a related issue with my M2NPV-MX (the same motherboard, sans TV output)

The Athlon II X2 250 I wanted to transplant from my main rig to this backup after an upgrade isn't accepted at all by the M2NPV. Fans run for a second or 2, and then it shuts itself down. No issues with the original A64 3500+, running the latest 5005 BIOS (although there is now apparently a 1305 BIOS, but that doesn't list any new CPU support and the change in number is weird). Cleared CMOS with no luck.

CPU support list doesn't mention the 250, but it does support the 255, which is the same chip with a 100MHz speed bump (Asus' page does list it as having only 512KB of L2 though, which is incorrect). Both C2 and C3 stepping Regor core CPUs are supported through a model or 2 each.

I haven't tried the BIOS posted earlier for the -VM since BIOSes for each mobo seem to be different in some slight way (MD5'd the 5005 BIOS for both models) and I don't want to risk bricking it.

Can anyone provide any help please? Thanks.

Asus' support page

Edit: The M3N-H linked to by djk (OP) supports the 250 in both C2 and C3 steppings.

[opethfan]

Small update: I've started playing with cbrom but it always seems to crash when I try combining the microcode. Windows 7 x64 and Windows Server 2008 x86 I've tried it on.

Edit: it stopped crashing, but the update says it happens, then doesn't.

Could I safely flash the -VM BIOS to my -MX?

MEGA EDIT: I discovered yesterday that Asus, in their infinite wisdom, did not include the CPU microcode for the AM3 CPUs in their 1305 (the latest one, pushed via ASUS Update) BIOS, only in the older 5005 BIOS. On returning to the older 5005 BIOS, my 250 worked flawlessly.

I guess I bought a new mobo and RAM a few months ago for nothing

[wasafigther]

Hi guys, can J have a little help for my mobo M2NVP-VM?
Last asus beta bios doesn't support my cpu.
It's a Phenom II 970 BE.
What can j do?
Thank's a lot!

[boris19]

Hi All,

Thanks for the bios hack, 1234s282 and commentary from TheWiz.

@bossalinie I don't have a 265 on hand at the moment, so I was going to buy one. In the meantime I have been using a 555 from a separate project, which is 3.2GHz and was supported by the stock 5005 bios.

The hacked 5005 bios kindly provided by 1234s282 seems to work just the same as the stock 5005, for the 555 at least, so I would guess that it should be all good for the other CPUs supported by the donor 2603 bios.

I note that there has since been an update issued for that motherboard bios (up to version 2701), which provides support for CPUs up to 3.6GHz.

Thanks again,
djk

[djk]

Sure. I still have the file.  PM me your email address.

[boris19]

Microcodes are not CPU Chipset dependent , we discovered this a while ago!

Between the 2  bioses you posted , there was only 1 Microcode extra in the 2603 bios. The microcode in your BIOS was 28kb and the other one was 30kb. Your bios now has the 30kb of microcode.

Try at your own risk!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/747181/Asus%20M2...34s282.zip

Regards
Admin

good day!
Unfortunately, this link no longer works. Do it again, please!

[djk]

PM sent

[Matthias]

Microcodes are not CPU Chipset dependent , we discovered this a while ago!

Between the 2  bioses you posted , there was only 1 Microcode extra in the 2603 bios. The microcode in your BIOS was 28kb and the other one was 30kb. Your bios now has the 30kb of microcode.

Try at your own risk!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/747181/Asus%20M2...34s282.zip

Regards
Admin

hi, the link non longer works...
It is possible to re-upload the file or send it via PM?
Thank You!!!