rec.autos.simulators

I have a Celeron 266.  Would it be a good idea to overclock it or get a new CPU
instead to play F1 2000 or GP3

The Celeron chips didn't add an L2 cache until the 300a model. Even oc'd,
the 266 won't be very fast for today's standards. Depending on your
motherboard, probably a new cpu would be the way to go. I don't know how
much you have to spend, but if you're looking for a cheap way out, I have a
300a that oc's to 464 mhz, very stable at 1.95 volts (less than default)
that I'm willing to sell. It's slot1 and comes with the Global Win dual
fan/heatsink.  The Global Win unit is worth about $22, so I'd guess the
whole unit is worth about $45. It should be able to work with your
motherboard if you can set it to 100 mhz. Otherwise, there are lot's of good
deals on faster chips that oc very well.

--
Slot

Tweaks & Reviews
www.slottweak.com

Any suggestion for the best buy CPU that can rival low end PIII?

i run a celeron 266 at 448 mhz, fine for GPL and most stuff thats out there
currently, but it is showing its age, hopefully at xmas time I'll be upgrading

Martyn_D

I just finished upgrading my c300a (450mhz) to a CeleronII 566 that runs

PIII-733.  Great upgrade for a BX motherboard.

The total cost for this upgrade was $136.  (Cpu, MSI Master slocket and
Goldern Orb heatsink)

Celeron 533a (make sure its the 533a - thats the FC-PGA, NOT the PPGA
Celeron 533) or 566 should both o/c fine, just stick a decent fan/heatsink
on it (somthing like a thermaltake golden orb, or an alpha cooler if you
want to really go for it). Only half the cache of a PIII, so wont be as
quick as an equivalent speed PIII (depending on what your running) but a lot
cheaper!
I recently bought a 566 and have it running at 850, it will even run at 950
but is a bit unstable at that speed and probably needs a higher voltage.

Check out alt.comp.hardware.overclocking and http://www.overclockers.com/
for more accurate info.

--
Cheers,

Robin Lord - Trance DJ & Sim Racer.

http://www.oppositelock.co.uk

Nrburgring and Grand Prix Legends

| Any suggestion for the best buy CPU that can rival low end PIII?

That depends on your motherboard, memory and how much you want to spend; and
what you consider a low end PIII. I also have a C366 that I'm oc'ing to
600Mhz at 1.95 volts. I wasn't planning on parting with it, but who knows.
You may find some good deals on these chips that will oc at least to 550Mhz.
Your C266 may oc to over 400,  but that's rare in a .35 micron chip, heat
could be a problem depending on your case, and you'll still have no L2 cache
so that will hurt your speed, etc. For my computer now, I'm running a C566
at 920Mhz. It's perfectly stable at that speed, I've had it past 950 but it
did crash on extremely hot days after a few hours. One thing to consider
about Celerons vs PIIIs is that at the same clock rate a PIII may show
*slightly* higher general test scores, but in games the Celeron may be 1 or
2 fps faster. I've tested a few of them and the only thing I can figure is
that the smaller cache on the Celerons is an advantage in many games. Think
of the cache as a basket. It's faster to find what you're looking for in a
smaller basket than in a larger one. Current games don't seem to be
overloading the cache, so it works. A lot of info is now processed on the
video card.  Probably new games coming out will take advantage of the
special instruction sets in the PIIIs, so that will make a difference, but
it's hard to tell which games will and which ones won't. If you're also
dealing with large graphics file processing (pictures) or running a CAD
program, then the PIII will probably be better for you.

What we're trying to do here is give you advice without know how much you
are willing to spend and what your current system is. I'm willing to bet
that you're running PC66 memory, so you'll probably need new memory and a
motherboard.

--
Slot

www.slottweak.com
Tweaks & Reviews

New CPU and MoBo.

--

Hi to all,

I'm a bit of a newbie around over clocking !

I have a PIII 450 and want to know what I can over clock this to and
what do I have to do ?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
--
Martin                      

       __
 []_.-'  (Q_,._
  (o)_[F1}____(o)Z>        

Well, on Intel chips (as well as the new AMD's) the CPU's multiplier is
locked, so to overclock you instead raise the Front Side Bus speed.
Likely your FSB is set at 100MHz, and you have PC100 memory, and thus
the CPU multiplier is 4.5.  If your system's motherboard supports
adjustment of the FSB, either in the BIOS or through jumpers onboard,
you can raise the FSB.  Ex., Set the FSB to 112MHz.  Now your system
speed is 4.5x112.  Depending on the quality of your memory, you may be
able to increase the FSB as high as 124 or 133.  Anything higher and you
will need PC133 memory.  Also, adjusting the CAS latency in the BIOS
settings can get a little more out of your memory, ie. if it fails at
FSB of 133MHz at CAS 2, try CAS 3.  Finally, stubborn CPU's which don't
overclock (assuming you don't have a problem with your memory), can
usually be persuaded by slight increases to the CPU core voltage, say by
0.05-0.20V (try this in increments). Like all things, there are some
downsides to this.   First, your CPU will generate more heat from higher
bus speed and/or core voltage.  You need to make sure to provide it with
adequate cooling.  Second, when you raise the FSB, you are also raising
the speeds of the PCI and AGP busses in your system.  Most recent
motherboards provide both 1/3 and 1/4 bus speed dividers, so you can
adjust the divider to get your PCI bus speeds as close as possible to
spec, which is 33MHz.  This is important because some PCI devices and
also hard drives (due to their controllers) do not "get along well" with
overclocked PCI bus speeds.  As for the AGP bus, your only settings
available for that will be either 2/3 or 1/1.  Obviously you will use
the 2/3, but at FSB of 133 for example, you have the AGP at 89MHz, which
is way above its spec of 66.  A lot of video cards can't handle this.
The Voodoo3's and a few others, can however deal with it.  Finally, all
this overclocking of components, busses, etc., generates heat.  You
definitely want to make sure to have a roomy computer case with lots of
proper (as in airflow direction) ventilation.

Go to my webpage (url below) and check out the overclocking section....

8-)

*Peter* -  http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html