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IBM Aptiva 2136-E40 CPU Upgrade

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First post, by IcySon55

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Hey people,

I've recently gotten my hands on a version of my first ever PC, the Aptiva 2136. I still own the manual and recovery discs for it so that's fun!

I was looking at the CPU support list and it seems to go up to the Pentium 200 MMX because of seemingly limited multiplier options. Oddly the 2136 supported split plane power out of the box while the 2176 required a different VRM module and annoyingly, the 2176 BIOS doesn't recognize MMX CPUs and complains at boot, but works fine afterwards.

FSB on the 2136 is just 60 or 66 with multipliers of 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, and 3x. (There are only two jumpers)

Currently the system has an IBM 6x68L P166+ CPU installed. Came with the system from eBay.

I have my 200 MMX in the 2176 and it's under a bunch of things, would rather leave it alone for now. What are the chances I can get my 233 MMX running at either 200, or somehow tricking this board into getting 233Mhz out of the CPU?

Thanks,
-Icy

Edit: If this article from 1994 is anything to go by (https://www.anandtech.com/show/53), then I should be able to get away with setting the board to 1.5x and run the CPU at 233! Only testing will confirm of course.

Last edited by IcySon55 on 2023-03-18, 08:49. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 2, by IcySon55

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Can confirm, setting the Aptiva 2136 motherboard to 1.5x multiplier with a Pentium 233 MMX will indeed get the chip running at 233Mhz.

The BIOS recognizes it as a Pentium 200, but the speed works as expected!

Also this board seems to be the only one so far that isn't doing funny things with my AOpen S3 Virge/GX installed. However I'm not trusting it since it's flaked out on every other system so far. Things like preventing automatic shutdown and other oddities.

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Reply 2 of 2, by IcySon55

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Looking at http://ps-2.kev009.com/pcpartnerinfo/ctstips/2d7a.htm, can anyone hook me up with the recovery discs for the 2136?

I remember putting my originals away in a driver disc spindle ages ago and can't find it for the life of me!

Looking for part numbers 12J3971 (Recovery Red) and 01K4275 (Diagnostics Blue)

Edit: I've located the recovery disc for a certain model of the 2136. I don't think it's for the E40 (the model I have) nor do I think it's for my original 2136 model. Oh well, close enough!

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