Microcode update on HP tower not finishing even though the process completes

[pentium5]

Hello! I realize this is an old computer but it is serving its purpose well (it is not on the internet) and just wanted to give it an upgrade. It's got 3.5GB of DDR266 now and wanted to upgrade the CPU while I was at it. This computer is very sentimental to me so I want to keep it running and thought upgrading would be simple.

I upgraded the original 2.40 Pentium 4 CPU to a 3.06GHz CPU but it is not running at the full clock speed. It is stuck at 1.60GHz. This is an F29 Pentium 4.

The machine was running V1.00 for BIOS, so I've updated it to V1.43, which did not make a difference.

I then found the section regarding the Microcode update, which mentions updating support for the F29 Pentium 4s: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-compaq-dc5000-microtower-pc/403772/swI...

Under the "Fixes" section: Updates Intel Pentium 4 Processor microcode for F41, F34, F29 and F49 steppings.

I attempted to do this update via USB and that was a nightmare so I managed to find a Floppy disk and programmed it by running the .exe from the mentioned link. I booted to the Floppy and went through the process, everything seemed to work except the speed is still stuck at 1.60GHz. I was skeptical so I went through the boot the Floppy sequence again and it still says the system is running V1.08 Microcode. Is there anything that I am doing wrong? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance! I've attached some pictures. Let me know if you need any more information.

[DGroves · Accepted solution]

your not understanding how the microcode only updates worked

the updates (microcode only) were released to update EXISTING Bios's  as there were not any new bios updates available

when HP updated the bios, THEY INCLUDED ALL PREVIOUS BIOS UPDATES AND MICROCODE UPDATES into the new Bios release (which is sp40409.exe )

so if you apply a bios update that came out after the microcode only release it will by default have the microcode updates included along with all previous bios updates

bottom line the latest bios has all microcode updates, and when installed requires no other microcode updates at this time

the HP quickspecs show all supported CPU's and there is no support for a 3.06

the quickspecs fastest one supported is:

Intel Pentium 4 3.2E GHz with 800-MHz Front Side Bus, 1024KB L2 Cache

https://www.dectrader.com/pdf/quickspecs/11876_na/11876_na.html

however the latest bios 1.43a documentation shows:

Version: 1.42 A

Fixed in this release:

• Fixes issue where a false USB overcurrent condition occurred when returning from a Sleep state.

Version: 1.41 A

Fixed in this release:

• Updates microcode to support new Intel processors.
• Adds support for the new 3.4-GHz Intel Pentium 4 F41 Processor.

Version: 1.40 A

Fixed in this release:

• Adds Video BIOS Version 3241, which resolves a DVI issue at startup when using a DVI add-in card and the internal graphics to support dual monitors.

• Updates microcode to support latest Intel processors.
• Adds "Limit CPUID Maximum Value to 3" option in F10 Setup. This option allows users to run Windows NT on some systems with newer processors. The option will not be displayed if the processor does not support this feature.

i would install the 3.40 cpu as it's faster (providing it's a cheap to buy  cpu

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/27504/intel-pentium-4-processor-supporting-ht-t...

[pentium5]

I did not know that the microcode was also built into the BIOS. Good to know.

The 3.4 I think is rare and/or expensive on eBay. I believe I have a 3.00 with HT somewhere, just has a lot of badly bent pins. If that doesn't work, I will hunt on eBay. Thanks!