600 MHz with Socket 7: The AMD K6-2+

Conclusion: Affordable Upgrade For Socket 7

Because of its' affordable price of about US$ 107, the AMD K6-2+ is suited for upgrading many Socket 7 systems. Compared to an old AMD K6-2 or even an Intel Pentium 233 MMX the performance gain is enormous. The benchmark results definitely show that a system based on the AMD K6-2+/500 can match a modern PC system based on Slot 1 and Celeron 500.

But the requirements for using the new processor could create problems with some boards: The motherboard should offer a core voltage of 2.0 Volts, the multiplier must allow the setting 5 or 5.5, and the system clock should operate with at least 83 MHz. Boards with VIA MVP3, Ali Aladdin V or SiS530/5598 chipset that support a system clock of 100 MHz are best suited. They are also the first choice for overclocking because they allow a clock frequency of 600 MHz (6 x 100 MHz) without problems.

One big problem is actually the availability of the processors: According to AMD the company currently sells the K6-2+ only to system integrators that use the processor in notebooks. We were not able to find out from AMD how many CPUs will ultimately be sold to retailers.

Gives the results of our tests, we feel they would be doing consumers an injustice if they didn't make the CPU available on a more widespread basis. Come on AMD, give upgraders a chance!