AMD socket 7 CPU

I have a motherboard that has an amd k6-2 266 afr processor on it. My chipset, ali m1531, seems to be able to go up to 83 MHz system clock. As far as I can tell, it is currently running at 66 MHz system clock. Why?
I am looking to upgrade, but have conflicting information. Can all amd k6-2 processors run at all the bus speeds of 100, 83, 66MHz, or only a select few? I have seen the tables on tom's website, but am still confused. Other websites list all three as possible with the k6-2.

Most of the later K6-2s run at a default FSB of 100mhz they will run at lower bus speeds but you will have to increase your multiplier setting to compensate eg k6-2 450mhz (100fsb x 4.5mult) will achieve 456mhz (83fsb x 5.5mult). Your problems become more complicated if you wish to run a K6-2 500 or 550 on your motherboard with 83mhz max bus as it probably won't have the multiplier settings of x6.0 & x6.5 needed to run each chip respectively. Luckily AMD had the foresight to address this problem,building into these chips the option of setting the multiplier at x2.0 and the CPU read it as x6.0! This means you will be able to get the K6-2 500 to run at its correct speed but the 550 will run 50mhz less than it should, so opt for a 500 k6-2 unless you plan to upgrade the motherboard later. The only other prob you might have is the voltage settings as the K6-2 500 and 550 run at a relatively low voltage of 2.2 a lot of older motherboards don't go much lower than 2.5 volts which will cause the chips to heat up and eventually burn out! Using a heavy duty heat sink and fan normally used for an Athlon may compensate for this however.
As yesdiseases said you may be better off spending your money on a complete upgrade unless you have a sentimental passion for K6-2s. A Duron 1gig or above could probably be purchased for less than a K6-2 and has far greater performance! The motherboards for the Duron/Athlon's are pretty cheap now as well. But be careful as I would say you might need new ram, case, and power supply if your old computer isn't compatible, eg edo or old PC66 sdram instead of at least pc100 sdram and AT case and power supply instead of ATX (Although there're AT Athlon moatherboards available).<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bronibbear on 12/17/02 03:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>