You never know until you try... that's my theory on OC'ing. There are
rumors that Intel has pulled the same multiplier shorting on the P2s as they
did with the last generation MMX's. i.e. only a bus speed increase will
actually show results. Take a look at a new 166MMX, pump it up to 75Mhz no
problem, it will give you 188, but try to go from 2.5 to 3 and you'll see
that it is still indeed running at 166. You will probably have your best
results (depending on CPU run and Motherboard manufacturer... and all the
other components in your system, after all you are increasing the system bus
speed which = increasing PCI/ISA bus speed) with 4.5x75. If you are going
to try any higher, check to see if you have PC100 compliant SDRAM, cheaper
SDRAM works fine at 66, but bump up the speed and you may see some problems.
it's defiantly a nice place to be, but you have to have a well built system
with top drawer parts to keep the stability as well.
But remember, Your CPU was designed to work at 66 or lower only, 100 may or
may not be a safe place with a 300, you have to check your board too. Some
BX boards take the bus speed straight from the CPU and may not 'allow' you
to increase it without a little trickery. And check out that RAM, it's a
real easy place for a builder to save a few bucks (depending on how much ram
you got... it could be quite a bit), because until you go to either
overclock it, or upgrade the CPU to a 350 or 400 you'll never know the
difference. Overclocking is *not* supported by any manufacturer...
therefore you would never tell them that... and by the time you went to
upgrade your CPU something better will be out there anyway. In short....
check the RAM, if you don't have PC100, see if you can still make a swap for
an extra couple of dollars. And let me know how you make out... I still
don't have a PII of my own to try it on, and wouldn't try it on a client's
machine, I'm a nice guy, but don't really want to buy a new
processor/board/whatever for any of my clients.
Cheers
Joe Walsh
Supercity Internet Services