Not Dead Yet: Breathing New Life Into The BX Chipset
Intel repeated this strategy with its Pentium 4 processor, enraging many early buyers. The first generation of socket 423 boards was declared outdated after only one year, and a new socket, using 478 pins, was introduced. Socket 478 still forms the basis for all Pentium 4 systems, which also means the early adopters were once again forced to buy not only a new processor but also a new motherboard.
Despite, or maybe even because of these adversities, every once in a while a company produces an adapter with which a new processor can run on an old board. Intel offered this kind of upgrade path back in the days of the "Overdrive," which was basically a processor-cum-adapter.
Today, however, we're not talking about turning a 486 into a Pentium or a Pentium into an AMD K6, but about running a fast Pentium III processor in first generation boards. One name that is intricately tied in with the Pentium III is "BX," or, rather, Intel's i82440BX chipset, which helped bring the P-III into the mainstream market. The chipset was so popular and reliable that many systems built on it are still in use today.
