Upgrade Mania, Continued
There are three important conditions you need to be aware of before purchasing a new processor:
Does my motherboard support the core voltage for the new processor?
Slot-1 or Socket 370 motherboards that are not older than a year will definitely be able to support all Pentium III or Celeron processors. Not all of those motherboards will support the 133 MHz front side bus (FSB or processor bus clock) though.
Depending on the chipset of the motherboard and its age, you will see the following situation:
| Motherboard Chipset | Supported Processor Voltage | Supported Processor Bus Clock (FSB) | Supported Processors | Requires Converter Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 440LX/ZX chipset | usually 2.0 - 2.8 V | 66 MHz | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-333 | Celeron 533A-766requires converter board with voltage regulator for 1.5-1.65 V |
| Intel 440BX chipset~1998, 1999 | usually supports 2.0 - 2.8 V | 66, 100 MHz | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-450Pentium III Katmai 450-600 | Celeron 533A-800Pentium III 600E - 800Erequires converter board with voltage regulator for 1.5-1.65 V |
| Intel 440BX chipset2000, 2001 | ~1.3 - 2.8 V | 66, 100 MHz | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-450Pentium III 450-850Celeron 533A-800 | Row 2 - Cell 4 |
| VIA Apollo Pro chipset | usually supports 2.0 - 2.8 V | 66, 100 MHz | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-450Pentium III Katmai 450-600 | Celeron 533A-800Pentium III 600E - 800Erequires converter board with voltage regulator for 1.5-1.65 V |
| VIA Apollo Pro 133 chipset | usually supports 1.3 - 2.8 V | 66, 100, 133 MHz | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-450Pentium III 450-850EPentium III 533B-1000EBCeleron 533A-800 | Row 4 - Cell 4 |
| Intel 810E, 815, 820 chipsets | usually supports ~1.3 - 2.8 V | Row 5 - Cell 2 | Celeron 333-533Pentium II 233-450Pentium III 450-850EPentium III 533B-1000EBCeleron 533A-800 | Row 5 - Cell 4 |
Please note that the range of the voltage regulator is decided by the motherboard-maker! Some old boards may be able to supply 1.65 V, while others may not. The year given in the table is an estimate only and meant as an orientation for you. Please always check the features of your motherboard. It is also possible that certain motherboards supports even higher or lower voltages.
