It looks like my GPU is either incompatible with the CUSL2 or decided to take that exact moment to die. Replaced it another 9600xt I had laying around and it works fine now (this one is only 128mb). I tried recapping the 256mb one that was in it but still no joy. Maybe the CUSL2 can't handle that big of an AGP window? More testing to follow.

- Evan

I purchased one of his modified Tualatins some months ago, and I also ran into an issue with the fit in a socket. In my Soyo 7VMA-B the CPU seemed to want to pop out of the socket when closing the lever. I held pressure on it and was able to secure it so that it worked, but even with the pressure of the heatsink clamp, it ended up making such poor contact that it burned the power pins. That board still works with a Coppermine CPU (different power pins I suppose), but it now will not work with this modified Tualatin. I also have two Tyan S1854 Socket 370 motherboards, and this CPU fits very well in both of those motherboards and works fine in both. I guess it's likely a difference of a few thousandths of an inch, but it is enough. The bummer for me is that I had wanted to use this CPU in the Soyo board, but at this point I'd have to replace the socket - that seems pretty drastic when it works fine with a 1000 MHz Coppermine as is.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-05-10, 01:48:

I purchased one of his modified Tualatins some months ago, and I also ran into an issue with the fit in a socket. In my Soyo 7VMA-B the CPU seemed to want to pop out of the socket when closing the lever. I held pressure on it and was able to secure it so that it worked, but even with the pressure of the heatsink clamp, it ended up making such poor contact that it burned the power pins. That board still works with a Coppermine CPU (different power pins I suppose), but it now will not work with this modified Tualatin. I also have two Tyan S1854 Socket 370 motherboards, and this CPU fits very well in both of those motherboards and works fine in both. I guess it's likely a difference of a few thousandths of an inch, but it is enough. The bummer for me is that I had wanted to use this CPU in the Soyo board, but at this point I'd have to replace the socket - that seems pretty drastic when it works fine with a 1000 MHz Coppermine as is.

Mine seems to work/fit much better with the PCB mashed down as hard as I could onto the CPU. If you've got access to hot air it's an option -- I probably got 1/32 of an inch extra out of it. Not for the faint of heart though. I ended up discoloring the PCB in a couple of places. I worked around doing one corner at a time while squeezing it with the kind of tweezers that are spring shut for holding chips. But it's a bit like playing whack-a-mole because if you heat up too much you can undo what you've accomplished.

Sad that he decided to order the default 1.6mm PCB instead of getting the more expensive, thinner PCB instead.

Alright -- so the Intel D815EEA is back in the PC. My CUSL2 must have bad caps -- it just isn't stable. My 256MB 9600XT doesn't work in the CUSL2 -- but my 128MB 9600XT does (just barely -- it finally crashed on me tonight, after several successful 3dmark03 runs). Also, it failed to post today from a cold boot. I went through the process of rigging it up with another PSU from my modern system (900W -- I know it doesn't have the same 5V support as an older PSU but it still has 20A on the 5V rail)

I ordered the CUSL2 because it has VRM that is actually built well enough to run the 1.4GHz Tualatin that is in this PC (the D815EEA has the wimpiest VRM). But this board is no good for me so in the bin it goes. Should I just let the D815EEA blow up in time? Should I try to find a better motherboard? D815EEA2 seems to have the same VRM but some revisions are Tualatin compatible? I wouldn't mind having a Via 133A board with the early southbridge but I can't find one with a front USB header.

CUSL2 can be picky about GPUs as it is. I had to sell a Voodoo 3 3000 and it took me almost a hour because the CUSL2 would lock up with it during 3dMark. Thankfully the client was very patient and I had managed to get the V3 running and passing 3dMark on a 440BX mobo. (not sure which one as I have quite a few BX boards around)

As for board choices - try an ABIT SA6 or ST6, if you can find one.

I have Asus CUSL2 with Tualatin 1.2ghz and I tried everything to make it work. But bios always defaults back to 933mhz.
So I left it at that.
Good luck.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-05-13, 08:39:

CUSL2 can be picky about GPUs as it is. I had to sell a Voodoo 3 3000 and it took me almost a hour because the CUSL2 would lock up with it during 3dMark. Thankfully the client was very patient and I had managed to get the V3 running and passing 3dMark on a 440BX mobo. (not sure which one as I have quite a few BX boards around)

As for board choices - try an ABIT SA6 or ST6, if you can find one.

So, the Intel D815EEA2U "officially" supports the Tualatin CPUs -- all but the 1.4GHz (Intel removed support at some point, perhaps because the VRM wasn't up to it? They eventually put it back in with the very last release, but that wasn't ever officially supported). I don't have a schematic -- so it's hard to say for sure -- but the VRM seems the same between the D815EEA and the D815EEA2U with the exception that four of the capacitors have been upgraded from 820uF to 1500uF. Hard to say if there are any other changes without a schematic but that's all I can see at a glance.

I guess it would be possible to swap to larger caps on my D815EEA -- with the caveat that the inductors might not be sized appropriately for the inrush current that the bigger caps would create (although, the inductors appear identical).

So my choices now are:

1. Use the D815EEA as it is -- it is perfectly stable after all (the current limit might have been because of excessive ripple or something like that, not a hard limit)
2. Try to "upgrade" my D815EEA with the 1500uF caps to beef up the VRM
3. Get another 815 based motherboard
4. Get a Via 133A motherboard, and deal with the lack of front USB
5. Try to source an 820 motherboard

I'm drawn to the 820 because I don't have any other systems with RDRAM -- but those motherboards seem really few and far between. I might like something like the Asus CUC2 -- except they are unobtanium. Anyone know of any 820 motherboards that are actually common? There are some of the ABit boards you listed on eBay at the moment but they're ~200-300 bucks which is a bit much.

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-13, 13:51:

I'm drawn to the 820 because I don't have any other systems with RDRAM -- but those motherboards seem really few and far between. I might like something like the Asus CUC2 -- except they are unobtanium. Anyone know of any 820 motherboards that are actually common?

What about looking for a Dell XPS B series? My guess is that Dell sold way more RDRAM i820 systems than anybody else... and especially the enthusiasty/clone shop Taiwanese mobo guys.

Now, the XPS B series will have the proprietary PSU pinout, but I think how to deal with that is well-documented by that point...

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-13, 22:13:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-13, 13:51:

I'm drawn to the 820 because I don't have any other systems with RDRAM -- but those motherboards seem really few and far between. I might like something like the Asus CUC2 -- except they are unobtanium. Anyone know of any 820 motherboards that are actually common?

What about looking for a Dell XPS B series? My guess is that Dell sold way more RDRAM i820 systems than anybody else... and especially the enthusiasty/clone shop Taiwanese mobo guys.

Now, the XPS B series will have the proprietary PSU pinout, but I think how to deal with that is well-documented by that point...

You just move it to the unpopulated part of the solder pads right?

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:41:

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-13, 22:13:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-13, 13:51:

I'm drawn to the 820 because I don't have any other systems with RDRAM -- but those motherboards seem really few and far between. I might like something like the Asus CUC2 -- except they are unobtanium. Anyone know of any 820 motherboards that are actually common?

What about looking for a Dell XPS B series? My guess is that Dell sold way more RDRAM i820 systems than anybody else... and especially the enthusiasty/clone shop Taiwanese mobo guys.

Now, the XPS B series will have the proprietary PSU pinout, but I think how to deal with that is well-documented by that point...

You just move it to the unpopulated part of the solder pads right?

Anyone have pictures of the D820LP motherboard from the Dell XPS B series? The Retro Web doesn't have one and I'd like to see the VRM. No listings I can find for just the motherboard -- I'd have to buy the whole PC to harvest the mobo. The predecessor to the D820LP (the VC820) has pretty much the same VRM as the D815EEA.

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:48:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:41:

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-13, 22:13:

What about looking for a Dell XPS B series? My guess is that Dell sold way more RDRAM i820 systems than anybody else... and especially the enthusiasty/clone shop Taiwanese mobo guys.

Now, the XPS B series will have the proprietary PSU pinout, but I think how to deal with that is well-documented by that point...

You just move it to the unpopulated part of the solder pads right?

Anyone have pictures of the D820LP motherboard from the Dell XPS B series? The Retro Web doesn't have one and I'd like to see the VRM. No listings I can find for just the motherboard -- I'd have to buy the whole PC to harvest the mobo. The predecessor to the D820LP (the VC820) has pretty much the same VRM as the D815EEA.

Or you could keep the whole PC... 😀

One thing I just realized - I very much doubt that the Dell board will support Tualatins. My memory might be wrong, but I don't recall any Tualatin Dells - I think they went straight from the 4100 (the last classic beige case) with i815/socket 370 coppermines to Pentium 4s in black cases...

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:05:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:48:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:41:

You just move it to the unpopulated part of the solder pads right?

Anyone have pictures of the D820LP motherboard from the Dell XPS B series? The Retro Web doesn't have one and I'd like to see the VRM. No listings I can find for just the motherboard -- I'd have to buy the whole PC to harvest the mobo. The predecessor to the D820LP (the VC820) has pretty much the same VRM as the D815EEA.

Or you could keep the whole PC... 😀

One thing I just realized - I very much doubt that the Dell board will support Tualatins. My memory might be wrong, but I don't recall any Tualatin Dells - I think they went straight from the 4100 (the last classic beige case) with i815/socket 370 coppermines to Pentium 4s in black cases...

I don't have anything against keeping the dell -- but I collect Gateway PCs so it would be out of place. I'd rather replace the D815EEA inside my Pentium III Gateway 😉

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:29:

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:05:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 00:48:

Anyone have pictures of the D820LP motherboard from the Dell XPS B series? The Retro Web doesn't have one and I'd like to see the VRM. No listings I can find for just the motherboard -- I'd have to buy the whole PC to harvest the mobo. The predecessor to the D820LP (the VC820) has pretty much the same VRM as the D815EEA.

Or you could keep the whole PC... 😀

One thing I just realized - I very much doubt that the Dell board will support Tualatins. My memory might be wrong, but I don't recall any Tualatin Dells - I think they went straight from the 4100 (the last classic beige case) with i815/socket 370 coppermines to Pentium 4s in black cases...

I don't have anything against keeping the dell -- but I collect Gateway PCs so it would be out of place. I'd rather replace the D815EEA inside my Pentium III Gateway 😉

I always liked Gateway, but up here in Canada, they were... difficult... to get, at least in the glory days of the cow-spotted boxes. Had to order them from the U.S. by phone. Doesn't help that the exchange rate was very unfavourable.

Did Gateway make a i820 box comparable to Dell's XPS B? Gateway/Dell/Micron were very similar (i.e. building custom boxes out of whatever Intel's newest motherboard/platform was) for a good chunk of the late 90s, then at some point Gateway took a turn in the wrong direction, I just don't know if that was before the i820 or not... and then weren't there some slot A Gateways?

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-14, 03:02:

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:29:

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:05:

Or you could keep the whole PC... 😀

One thing I just realized - I very much doubt that the Dell board will support Tualatins. My memory might be wrong, but I don't recall any Tualatin Dells - I think they went straight from the 4100 (the last classic beige case) with i815/socket 370 coppermines to Pentium 4s in black cases...

I don't have anything against keeping the dell -- but I collect Gateway PCs so it would be out of place. I'd rather replace the D815EEA inside my Pentium III Gateway 😉

I always liked Gateway, but up here in Canada, they were... difficult... to get, at least in the glory days of the cow-spotted boxes. Had to order them from the U.S. by phone. Doesn't help that the exchange rate was very unfavourable.

Did Gateway make a i820 box comparable to Dell's XPS B? Gateway/Dell/Micron were very similar (i.e. building custom boxes out of whatever Intel's newest motherboard/platform was) for a good chunk of the late 90s, then at some point Gateway took a turn in the wrong direction, I just don't know if that was before the i820 or not... and then weren't there some slot A Gateways?

I think gateway only had the VC820 (Slot 1). I don’t have any slotkets and that’s an expensive thing to buy so I don’t think I want to do that. I know there are 8,000 different kinds and most that aren’t super expensive only work for first generation celerons.

Hi. I recently got a CUSL2 1.02 from Ebay, through an auction (as used/in working condition) for US$ 26. Seller (account created 2012) had 100% reputation. The only catch was the shipping cost, a bit expensive, and I think he does this to prevent people snatching things for a few bucks leaving him with nothing. I got the board while I was abroad (business trip), when I got back I put on my bench with a standard Pentium III Coppermine and got infinite long beeps (RAM not recognized), no Post Code on diagnostic card.

The board was clean and in good shape. Something caught my attention near the socket 370 cooler hook, under the microscope I found some broken traces, exactly between CPU and RAM. I went back to the Ebay auction page to check on the board pictures, there was a white spot exactly on the place where the damage is, but one could not tell it was an issue (not enough resolution). Tried contacting the seller, sent pictures, got ignored.

The remaining alternative was to attempt a repair. I used an IDE 80 wire (same width as the broken traces) and tin solder paste, and placed some solder mask to protect it afterwards. The board (CUSL2) works now, bought as working condition but I was scammed. It felt good to fix and salvage it.

aspiringnobody wrote on 2024-05-09, 16:03:

Well, […]
Show full quote

Well,

I'm having a bad vintage PC week. I recently discovered that my working-totally-fine gateway PC that I upgraded with a modded Tualatin 1.4GHz drew way too much power from the Gateway's rather anemic VRM. So, I ordered an ASUS CUSL2 hoping that all my cares would fade away. I can't even understate how wrong I was (lol). Sadly, I passed up a TUSL2 that was confirmed working, but with leaking caps, because I wasn't sure if my modded Tualatin would work in a real Tualatin motherboard. It sold for like $30.

So, fast forward to yesterday, and my CUSL2 arrived. I excitedly opened up the packaging and got to work taking out the Gateway OEM, Intel made D815EEA and replacing it with the much lauded ASUS CUSL2. Had some fitment issues (but got those resolved) -- and BAM! -- no post. Put in the post code analyzer. No activity at all. CPU was getting warm, so definitely getting power. Pulled out my Tualatin 1266 and popped it in -- instantly came to life!

It was at this point I went down a bit of a rabbit hole. You see, the Tualatin 1266 came pre-modified from the Korean eBayer who sells them. I eventually decided I wanted the fastest possible, so I tried to source a 1.4 the same way -- but he doesn't sell them. So I ordered his PCB to do the mod myself (I figured, hey, I can do that!). Success -- it worked for months in my D815EEA. I didn't notice this until yesterday, but the thickness of the PCB I received for the mod is easily three times the thickness of the ones he uses for his ready-made CPUs. Either that, or between when I ordered the first one and when I ordered the PCB he's switched to the cheaper, thicker, PCB. So a word of caution there -- they might not be as good as they used to be.

Anyway, having figured this out I decided I must be having some kind of CPU contact issue -- and thus I spent a couple of hours trying different ways of seating the processor. Trying to get every last micrometer of pin out of it I could. Finally, I gave up. I gently placed it in the socket and closed the latch with no pressure on the CPU. I was going to store it away, and I wanted to protect the socket and the pins. For some reason I tried one more time -- and BOOM! activity on the post code analyzer!! So less pressure seemed to be good... weird, right?

I eventually, after trying some other things, reduced the tension on the heatsink and got it more or less posting reliably. However, booting to windows was a crapshoot. Sometimes, it boots fine. Sometimes it hangs. Sometimes scandisk tries to start but crashes. Sometimes scandisk starts and completes normally. But if/when I got to windows, should I try to run 3dmark -- 100% locks up or reboots before it finishes the first test. Checked the forums. Someone else reported (as a response to someone else's thread) that they tried the pin mod on their Tualatin but couldn't get it stable. VGA drivers would always get corrupted, something along those lines. He/She decided that they messed up their CPU trying to mod it and never came to a resolution.

I took a step back and thought that maybe the Windows ME install I was on (that had originated with the D815EEA) might be corrupted in some way, so I reinstalled Windows. Made it through the entire installation without a hitch. Installed the chipset drivers (which said they weren't needed on my version of Windows) and the Intel IDE driver. Installed the drivers for my ATi Radeon 9600XT. Installed DirectX 9.0c. Rebooted countless times. Solid as a rock.

Went in for the moment of truth -- launched 3dmark03. It made it all the way to the end of the first benchmark. Farther than I've seen it go since this all started. And then, without warning, it rebooted right at the end of Wings of Fury. Windows ME tried to load, got to scandisk, and the computer locked up hard. I loaded up memtest v2 and went to bed for the night -- hoping desperately that I'd find bad RAM or something that I could fix.

Which brings us to today -- and 8 successful passes of memtest awaiting me when I woke up. So much for easy. Today at work I took the hot air rework station to the bottom of my poor Tualatin 1.4 and cooked it good trying to mash the PCB down as hard against the pins as possible to eek out any last depth I could on the pins. I'll try that when I get home but I don't have much faith. After that I'm not sure where to go next, but whatever I do will be chronicled in the thread below.

Such a disappointing start to my journey with one of the most beloved vintage motherboards this side of the P2B.

- Evan

Recently I also got CPU adapters (from Ebay, a Korean seller, don't know if the same source you mentioned) to use Tualatin CPUs on standard Coppermine motherboards, such as the CUSL2. I used a Celeron 1GHZ , removed 2 pins from the CPU, welded some pins as instructed and it worked on this motherboard at 10x133Mhz, no change on VCore. So far it works, latest BIOS 1014 no sound (got it on Retroweb).