Skip to main content

Unsolved

This post is more than 5 years old

Closed

sfmarra

26 Posts

183453

December 8th, 2005 19:00

B130 memory issue

It appears that the b130 bios is only reporting my memory speed at 400mhz and it should be 533mhz.  I've verfied the memory stick is a 533mhz.  Has anyone else experience this?  Is the a fix for this?
 
Thanks 

ejn63

11 Legend

 • 

87.5K Posts

 • 

321.3K Points

December 8th, 2005 20:00

Do you have a Celeron-M CPU?

sfmarra

26 Posts

December 8th, 2005 20:00

no..its the pentium M 740

grumpyforeman

6 Posts

December 9th, 2005 12:00

According to the Dell Rep. I chatted with the B130 uses the Intel Mobile 910GML Chipset (Alviso). This chipset  is designed for the Celeron M family of processors (Intel website) but apparently Dell is also using it for the Pentium M 740 processor too. The chipset only supports 400Mhz FSB and 400Mhz DDR2 memory. So my guess is that your memory and bus speed is being limited by the chipset.

grumpyforeman

6 Posts

December 9th, 2005 12:00

See post below. Sorry
 

Message Edited by grumpyforeman on 12-09-2005 08:45 AM

sfmarra

26 Posts

December 9th, 2005 12:00

Thats not good as the b130 is advertised as has having a 533 fsb. It's also stated on all the b130 documentation,my order form, and invoice.  
 
 If it is a 400mhz fsb chipset, then  i didn't get what i paid for. I guess if thats the case, i need to figure out what im going to do...keep it or return it.

ahains

28 Posts

December 9th, 2005 16:00

Actually I'm doubtful that 910gml is a possibility, the Intel fact sheet for it shows that it does not support the Pentium M SpeedStep stuff, and I can see this actively working on my B130 (with Pentium M 740).
 
-a

ahains

28 Posts

December 9th, 2005 16:00

That is very unfortunate if they did actually use the 910GML chipset.
The user manual for the Inspiron 1130/B120/B130 states that the chipset is "910GML or 915GM".
I assumed that this meant that the B120 had the 910GML and the B130 had the 915GM.
Certainly seems like a reasonable assumption, especially given that I paid for the 533mhz FSB Pentium M processor.
 
I'm hoping it is actually a 915GM and they just need to offer a new BIOS to flash to rectify this issue.
 
-a

grumpyforeman

6 Posts

December 9th, 2005 17:00

You can identify what chipset is in the Inspirion B130 by using Intel’s Chipset Identification Utility.  Here is the download link http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/cs-009245.htm

If someone will post the findings here it would be great. I want to buy a B130 but hesitated after having the Dell representative told me it was using the 910GML.

 

 

grumpyforeman

6 Posts

December 9th, 2005 19:00

ahains,

That is a bummer. Maybe try CPU-Z to get chipset information. I should have menitioned it first. It give you a lot more details about the processor, memory, and mainboard. It may give you more detailed information about the chipset. You can download the lastest version from http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php look for the "latest version" heading in the upper left corner of the site.

 

ahains

28 Posts

December 9th, 2005 19:00

One other tidbit-

I see that the video driver is using InfSection "i915GM1" from its INF file. This looks like another vote against the 910 theory, but definitely not certain.

-a

ahains

28 Posts

December 9th, 2005 19:00

Grumyforeman,
I just tried the intel chipset identification utility, and it was not much help.
It states that the detected chipset is "Mobile Intel(R) 82915GM/GMS/910GML Express Chipset Family".
:)
 
-a

ahains

28 Posts

December 9th, 2005 19:00

Grumpyforeman,

I should have mentioned it, but I already checked with CPU-Z, "Notebook Hardware Control" (formerly Centrino Hardware Control), Device Manager, the WinXP System Info util, and searching the registry.

Every single place that makes reference to the chipset has the same string that notes all 3 chipsets.

I found a section of the intel site that has pictures of what to look for inside the box to identify the chipset, but of course they don't yet have any actual pictures up for these specific chipsets.

They really want to make it hard to figure out :)

-Adrian

sfmarra

26 Posts

December 9th, 2005 20:00

I hope this turns out to be nothing more than a bios issue.  I really like this notebook, but i also like getting what i paid for :)

Message Edited by sfmarra on 12-09-2005 04:21 PM

chadteck

20 Posts

December 12th, 2005 22:00

Does anybody have an update on this?  I've spoken with several Dell reps and have heard from a few of them that the laptop is using the Intel 910GML chipset.  I have explained over and over that it was not stated anywhere on the order screen or order confirmation that the hardware I purchased would not run at the speed specified. 
 
Based on what I have heard, the laptop is currently being assembled with a motherboard using the Intel 910GML chipset and Dell may start using a motherboard with the Intel 915GM at some point.  This is not an acceptable answer to me.  It seems to me that Dell is taking advantage of its customers in this situation.  Also, I am curious to know if they are violating any type of agreement with Intel by using a chipset that does not technically support the processor it is being used with (according to basic documentation on Intel's web-site at least). 

chadteck

20 Posts

December 12th, 2005 23:00

I've been doing a little more research while I wait for Dell to get back with me so I can argue with them more. 
 
While looking at Intel's chipset information, I noticed that one of the differences between the 910GML and 915GM chipset (as stated previously) was that the 915 supports speedstep, 910 does not.  Also, I noticed that the clock speeds for the Integrated graphics are different.  The 910GML information states that the clock speed for the graphics card is 160/166MHz, according to Powerstip, mine is running at 200MHz, which would correspond to the 915GM chipset.  Of course, this information could have changed with a chipset revision, but I thought it was interesting.
 
Anyone that has any updated info on this, please post.

Was this post helpful?

View All

No Events found!

Top