Pentium II is alive and kicking! :)

All right, folks. I'm building a new system now. But what to do with my old one? Well, I decided to give it over to my daughter. Possibly, improving on it a bit, without replacing the motherboard. Adding more memory, etc...

Now, my old system's motherboard is Tyan Tiger 2, a dual-CPU for Pentium II's 233-333 MHz. I have 266s there now, so I though, why not up that to 333s, which is the max CPU clock that the board can handle. Pentium IIs must be real cheap by now... or so I thought.

I was up for some surprise. The lowest price on Slot 1 Pentium II 333 MHz is $71, according to pricewatch.com. Such stores as Spartan sells them for $96, even! Curiously enough, Pentium II 300 MHz are cheap, at $42. While Pentium II 350 MHz (which is higher than 333, as you know) are also cheap, at the very same $42.

Why such a price spike for Pentium II 333 MHz? Or is it precisely because it is the max for some mobos?

Leo

It's probably not because they aren't made anymore. Pentium II 350 MHz also aren't made anymore, yet they are cheaper. The argument that 333 MHz is the max for some mobos might be a better explanation.

Leo

Thanks. That's an interesting thought. I don't know if they're compatible, but there are Pentium II 350 MHz CPUs that are based on SECC1.

Leo

Can your motherboard run at 100 FSB? I have an old PII motherbaord with the 440 BX chipset and it gives me the ability to run at 66, 75, 100, 112, 133, and several other speeds in between. Now, even though my motherbaord says the max is 450 mHz, by running at 133 I can make my PII 350 run at 466 mHz (although not too reliably because I only have PC100 RAM), and with setting the multipliers manually my BIOS says it can get up to over 1000 mHz, although I doubt that would work. Even though mym otherboard came out before Pentium IIIs were released, the latest BIOS gives support to them, so you may even be able to run low mHz Pentium IIIs in there, depending on chipset and what the manufacturer says. I say go for the 350's and try running at a higher FSB. If it doesn't work, you can always take them back.

"Trying is the first step towards failure."

100MHz FSB PII's are much cheaper per clock than 66MHz FSB. This is because most 100MHz boards can accept the 300/100, 350, 400, 450, PIII 550 and 600. Most even support the PIII Coppermines. So the 100MHz guys have more options. Meanwhile, the LX guys are stuck with whatever remains of the 333, 300/66, etc. So supplies of the 333 are short. I think the 300/100 and faster are probably multiplier locked, so if that is true, you get stuck.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

Get PPGA Celerons @ 533. These hauled major A$$ on my BP6. I remember the good days.

Nice Intel and AMD users get a Cookie.... Yummy

all the celron up to the 800 had a 66 fsb that is hpw he recomends you do it


i'm not sure but you night need a slocket so that you can get the right voltage to this chip

<font color=red>Gasoline + Fire</font color=red> Can be a lot of fun

Slotkey

Nice Intel and AMD users get a Cookie.... Yummy

Oh... For a moment, I thought it was a typo. So, where do I get such a slocket?

Leo

Never mind. Found it. It's called "converter" on pricewatch.com. Thanks!

Leo

Thanks. I have already found (and ordered) slockets with SMP capability:

<A HREF="http://store.yahoo.com/aaronix/cpubridforne.html" target="_new">http://store.yahoo.com/aaronix/cpubridforne.html</A>

But why does the CPU have to be PPGA? The slocket seems to work with FC-PGA, too. As long as the bus is 66 MHz, right? Which leaves me with Celerons up to 800 MHz, right?

Leo

Cool then. I'll go for Celeron 533MHz PPGA. They're as cheap as those Pentium IIs. Thanks!

Leo

Many of them came with cheap mini Pentium coolers. Most of those ran extrememly hot with those small coolers, but still ran, proving that they are very heat tolerant. I would go for a decent sized cooler, such as the ND-8 from www.nexfan.com The ND-8 is full of fins and fairly short compared to other coolers with the same surface area. Definately overkill for the 533, but at that price, I would rather have too much cooling than too little, and good short coolers are hard to find.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

Not too bad for the heatsink being only 15mm thick (plus 10 for the fan). I have never used such a small heatsink, but it might work. The heatsink of the ND-8 is only 13mm thicker (the fan is 15mm thicker!). You can try it, I have seen OEM's use that little $1.75 pentium cooler on the Celeron before, but it didn't work so well. The choice of course it yours, but I don't think the ND-8 is much thicker than a stock Pentium II passive heatsink. You could always measure to check. Your copper choice would probably work, but I would go for something with at least a bigger fan as a matter of personal preference.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

You're right. The heighest multiplier that the mobo supports is 5, which means I'm stuck at 333 MHz maximum. Still, even downclocked like that, and even with the added cost of slotkets, the Celerons would be cheaper than Pentium II 333's. The heatsinks with fans run about the same price.

Hmm, but is it really worth the trouble?

Leo

I will probably leave as it is. Well, maybe will throw in another DIMM... How much would an eight-year old need anyway, just to learn the basics? At this stage, a more important "upgrade" might have been a new case that looks like a kitty.

Leo