This page contains PB 680 upgrade stories from 1999 on.
To read PB 680 upgrade stories from 1997 and 1998 click here.

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upgraded to a PowerLeap with a K6-2 333, Voodoo 3 2000 PCI, 48 MB Ram. Added a ATAPI Zip, 6,8 GB Maxtor DiamondMAX UDMA hard drive.

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First off, I added more ram.. so now it's running at 96 megs of ram. Upgraded to windows 98, put in the PBTV4 tv card, an 8 meg diamond monster 3d 2 voodoo2 card... set my swap file to 256 megs, Overclocked it to 200mmx (208?) and flashed the modem to V.9 . I now have a slowly dating system, but, it will run quake2 at 29.4 frames per second, in 800x600 with everything turned wide open. Before it would run it at 520x384, and at 12 fps. My internet connection jumped from 24,000 to 44,000. My stuff loads faster, and wintune jumped up with its stats. Thanks for a great site Ray, it really helped!

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New info on my upgrade: After uninstalling all of the devices I could, my PCI/IDE was detected, thus my CD-ROM, my second driver, and my 1G SyQest removable. My 100 MBit Ethernet card now seems to be running at full speed in both directions. My USR modem till doesn't get dtected and I believe it is what is still locking my system up so tightly I have to hit the reset button.

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Im back with good news. I finally got MR. Bios and my powerleap to work upgrades to work and it was worth all the trouble. Here is a run down on the upgrades Ive done on my PB. RAM from 32 to 64 Upgraded by video to Guillemot Maxi Gramer Phoenix thats uses the 3dfx banshee chip set and add a Guillemot Maxi Gamer 3D2 that uses the voodoo2 chip set. Upgraded by Bios to Mr. Bios version F09AB5NI Upgraded my pentium to powerleap AMD K6-2 300 with 3Dnow The AMD K6-2 300 is now clocked at 366 with a core voltage increase from 2.2v(default) to 2.4 and has been running with no problems. Due to the heat the video card and the cpu produces I have 4 case fans to blow on the cards and cpu. And I also leave my case open at all times. (Always remember to add more cooling if overclocking anything esp. cpu)

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Initially upgraded modem to 56K V90, OS to Win98, memory to 64M (have 96 but only first bank is recognized), added Iomega Ditto then Ditto Max parallel tapes and Acer scanner. I added 100 MBit Linksys adapter between my PB and the wife's Compaq Presario 1 6 MHz. The Wingate software allowing me to share the 56K modem connection, causes one of the two directions of Ethernet traffic (Compaq disk via PB CPU) to be incredibly slower than 9600 baud. But things were basically functional. I bought the PowerLeap 400 MHz K6-2 and then found out I had to purchase the Mr-Bios. I upgraded my flash BIOS first and things worked. When I first added the CPU, the mouse was not recognized until I moved whatever else was at Int 12. Some reboots only aw 48M until I reset. I had to re-add my drivers and things worked for a while. I did have a very long boot time "Waiting for disk 83" while it was configuring the Pnp no matter if I set the ATA to default or Legacy. There was occasional snow on the d splay (a 17" Panasonic in 1024 x 768 mode using the original video - I don't remember if it was 1 or 2 M) Last Tuesday night I received my PC-Checkit '98/PC diag and made the mistake of installing the hddfix from the Packard Bell site. The CD was still isible via the BIOS setup but not Win98. Now neither my Sound III 33K modem as Com1 or my 56K V90 US Robotics Internal Voice Pnp modem can be configured without hanging the system so tight I can't reboot other than the reset switch. Any ideas?

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I bought the PowerLeap 400 MHz K6-2 and then found out I had to purchase the Mr-Bios. I upgraded my flash BIOS first and things worked. When I first added the CPU, the mouse was not recognized until I moved whatever else was at Int 12. I had to readd my drivers and things worked for a while. I did have a very long boot time "Waiting for disk 83" while it was configuring the Pnp no matter if I set the ATA to default or Legacy. There was occasional snow on the display (a 17" Panasonic in 1024 x 768 mode sing the original video - I don't remember if it was 1 or 2 M) Last Tuesday night I received my PC-Checkit '98/PC diag and made the mistake of installing the hddfix from the Packard Bell site. The CD was still visible via the BIOS setup but not Win98. ow neither my Sound III 33K modem as Com1 or my 56K V90 US Robotics Internal Voice Pnp modem can be configured without hanging the system so tight I can't reboot other than the reset switch. Any ideas?

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Have had no problems with crashes, runs well. Would like to find out any info from other owners of this particular system. I wanted to upgrade the video with a new card/accelerater and was told by Packard Bell that since the video is on the motherboard, (physically) I cant upgrade it at all Sort of bummed me out, stuck with 2meg?

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Fantastic web site. Nothing like it on UK servers. I have done a number of upgrades which hopefully will last some time. 1. Matrox mystique graphics card. 2. Hayes 56K modem, 3. Western Digital 8.4Gb hard disk, 4. Creative Soundblaster Live value, 4.Voodo 2 graphics card, 6.Increased to 64Mb RAM, 5. Finally the best upgrade was the Powerleap adapter & 233MMX Pentium processor. This is not sold in the UK so I had to order it direct from the USA. It arrived promptly and works brilliantly. Much faster, don't now whether this is due to speed of processor, MMX technology or built in 32Kb of cache. All I can say is everyone should do it. If you want info. on any of this just e-mail me.

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first of all i like to thank ray for helping users like me on upgrading my packardbell. first upgrade i did was add more ram from 32 to 64. next i added a voodoo banshee and a voodoo2 card which performs very well. i also overclocked my 200mmx to 233 w th no problems. but if any one is thinking about overclocking, you should consider adding a case fan. i have added 3 fans, 2 fans to keep my video cards cool and the other for my cpu. right now iam trying to upgrade my bios with the mr. bois upgrade ver v09ab5ni.bio, but every time i upgrade the bios i can seem to get my os to load. i already have the powerleap adapter and cpu. all i need now is to get my bios upgrade to work. email me if you have any suggestions on how to get my bios upgrade from mr. bios to work.

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Upgraded to 128 MB, Maxtor 8GB, Starfighter 16MB video card, Sound Blaster 64AW, I/O magic 40X CD,Mr Bios version V09ab5ni, Powerleap adapter MMX plus with AMD-K6 2 at 333MHz. The system works great and the upgrade was very easy. Mr Bios is hard to reach but when you do they are very helpful. If you need any info, email me a question. Thanks Ray for your infos as I was able to upgrade my computer for a very reasonnable price without buying another computer.

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This is a PC in the office I have been upgrading over time. Replaced original Seagate 1.2G hard drive with Maxtor 6.4G --- Seagate develeoping some bad sectors. Increased RAM to 64Mb EDO, added an old Sound Blaster Pro sound card & a $19 (CompGeek) Crea ive Labs Exxtreme Blaster Graphics card with 4Mb SGRAM. OS is WIN98, which made configuration easier. Disabled the S3 MB video in Hardware Manager & video runs MUCH faster & with better resolution. The PC owner noticed a significant improvement in the isplay, even on his doggy Samtron 14" VGA! Plan to upgrade CPU next, with possible Graphics Accelerator. Ray's site has been very helpful & encouraging.

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Added IDT Winchip 200mhz mmx, computer recogizes as 200mhz mmx Centaurhauls, (overdrive get it?) changed cpu voltage jumpers to 4-5, upgraded ram to 48, the c-6 winchip costs 30 dollars and is 3x66mhz, took out PB ram completely.

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Once again I would like to thank Ray and the other Packard Bell sites for their help. I am sorry to say that I have done all I can do to my PB680. I have now built my own computer. OK, I guess I can tell you about it. I bought a ATX case with a 230w power supply and into it I installed a Epox MVP3-G main board with bus speed max of 112mhz. I removed the AMD K6-2 333mhz processor ( No easy job seperating it from the adapter)I got with the last upgrade ( powerleap adapter and processor)and installed it. I th n found 128mbs of SDRAM ( this is one module ) that can run at 125mhz ( so they say ). Once installed and running well I did a little overclocking. I could get it to run at 400mhz, but it was not completely stable so I settled for 380mhz. I now removed th Stealth II and Monster accelerator cards and replaced with one Diamond Viper V550 16mb PCI card ( until I did this I didn't think graphics could load that fast. WOW!!!) I replace my old ISA modem with a new PCI modem ( only because A friend will get the ld PB and will need a modem with it. Hi Michelle!!!). To finish it all up I installed my AWE64 gold ( not great, but still good.), 36X CD-rom, Superdisk, and ZIP drive ( parallel port ). Oh yah, just for fun I added a 13.0gig hard drive to the 5.1 I had a ready installed. I am now in the market for a new monitor, if you know of a good one let me know. I will stop by from time to time to see if there are any questions I can help answer.

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I recently upgraded my RAM on my machine. However, I have a few strange things happen - squiggle marks on pages, top 1/4. They do not interfere with the document, just show up on the screen. I have also purchased a new and faster modem (COMMWAVE 56K PCI from Egghead). Does anyone have anything to offer that I should watch out for. I have a feeling the only thing I need to do is put it in one of the ports in the back, plug it in and load the driver off the CD ROM. Should I delete the existing modem that came with the machine? Any comments or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ray, for having such a wonderful website.

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After upgrading the RAM to 96mb and up-grading to Win98 I would recieve a Registry Loop problem. i.e. get a message that there is a registry problem re-start system to correct. After the re-start it would do the same thing. At this point I called Micro oft out in Washington State and they comprehensively when over my system. There conclusion: Corrupted Memmory. I replaced the memmory I put in with new and the system loaded fine without any registry problems. But after up-grading to Win98 I lost the ability to record sound or use my telephone due to no Mic not working. I un-installed Win98 and under Win95 everyting works fine. Microsoft say's that Win98 is not compatible with Comm Central on Packard Bell Computers. Does anyone out there have a fix for this? I would be greatful for any help. Thank you. Ken (Yengling1@aol.com)

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well,after alot of thinking and reasoning i figured to overclock this thing and it works,so hey im good to go.im now clocking in at 200 or so according to my tests(actually gives me a little more than 200 but dont know why)im running 128 megs of memory an running smooth.Also if anyone out there can give me some info on putting the AMD K6_2 into this puppy ill be OK