Hello Matt,
I'll try to answer all your questions. First of all, all recent Intel CPU's
are multiplier locked. In other words, the CPU ignores the multiplier
settings on your motherboard. The only thing it needs from your motherboard
is the bus frequency (If you're curious, change the multiplier on your board
and you'll see that your CPU will ignore it and boot at its normal speed).
By default, a Celeron 566 uses an 8.5 multiplier at 66Mhz. If you set the
bus to 100 the CPU will show up as 850. Your P2B-F is newer than my board. I
have an ASUS P2B rev. 1.02. All you might have to do, is get the latest
BIOS from ASUS's website.
You are correct that in order to make the CPU work in a Slot 1
configuration, you will need an FC-PGA to Slot 1 adapter. I purchased an
Abit Slocket III with my processor. It's about $20 or so. I set it to 1.8v
(depending on the revision of your motherboard, it might not boot up if you
set it at less than 1.8v) on the adapter, applied some thermal compound ($1)
and a nice Thermaltake Golden Orb Fan/Heatsink ($18) . Any decent fan will
do provided you use some type thermal compound/grease. I elected to go with
a better fan to dissipate the heat more efficiently. Believe me, the CPU's
ambient temperature is about 4-5 deg Celsius lower with the better fan.
Don't touch the Celeron 700's!!! They are junk! The 66Mhz bus is at its
saturation point with a 10.5x multiplier. All reviews I've seen on that CPU
recommend to stay away. You're better off getting a Celeron 533a at the very
least. You can probably pick one up for about $100 and it'll easily
overclock to 800+. I even did some benchmarks and to my surprise, found that
Quake III ran better on my Celeron 300a/oc450 than at the 566/66 default.
Obviously, the 100Mhz system Bus makes quite a difference. However, at 850,
the Celeron 300/450, went cryin' home to mama =)
One question for you, do you have PC100 or better RAM on your PC? If you
don't, then you might be up you-know-what-creek... I'm assuming you do. With
a Slocket adapter, your board should support any CPU up to a P3-850. The
only catch will be you might have to over-volt it a wee bit depending on the
revision of motherboard you have. The reason for that is that older
motherboards, had a different voltage regulator that couldn't supply less
than 1.8v to the CPU. The higher speed CPU's from Intel run at 1.7v so
what's an extra .1v?
Hope that helps! If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at the
address below.
Michael M
P.S. If all that sounds very daunting, you can find many stores online that
will ship you a pre-tested Celeron with a Fan and Slocket adapter for dirt
cheap.
> To Michael M., (or other P2B(f) users),
> Btw, what are your bus (CPU and Core) frequency settings, to achieve
> 850Mhz with your Cel-566? (been jumbling confused numbers, and thought
> I'd just ask instead).
> Does your P2B go above 8x CPU bus multiplier? I don't think mine
> does (an Asus P2B-rev.f).
> My P2B-f manual shows settings for 8x (maximum) CPU multiplier
> frequency, although almost any conceivable Core-setting is available,
> up to 150Mhz.
> Just confusing as to you did this, since Celerons are still fixed at
> 66MHz CPU bus, no? I keep looking at this multiplier, and don't
> understand how you got it to work, if your P2B is limited to a
> CPU-mulitplier of 8.
> This sounds like a fun and inexpensive project (all that ram saved,
> no great overhaul!).
> Otoh, (today) Celeron-700's are about $207.00/shipped right now,
> kinda expensive, as the Pentium-700 is about $230.00/shipped.
> Cel-600's are only $120.00/shipped.
> Hmm, while I'm bugging you..(<g>), what is the fastest "stock"
> Celeron or Pentium-III, that an Asus P2B-f can handle properly? It
> might be easier to just get a non-overclocked chip, but I still wonder
> if this board can handle the faster Celerons or P-3's.
> Also, my P2B slot-1 would require an adaptor. Are PPGA and a FCPGA
> adaptor 2 separate things? Is there such a thing as a Slot-1 to FCPGA
> adaptor? Dang slot-1, sure got tossed quickly. Sure hope I don't have
> to dump the MB to get some more speed.
> Like you, I'm starting get a little worried about GP3 too..<g>. I
> have a Voodoo-3/3000 and 196mb ram, and it's gonna have to last a
> while. My Celeron-433 (running at 75Mhz Core, no extra fans/settings)
> won't handle too many more future games/sims.
> Thanks for any info.
> Matt
