Component Recommendations - CPU

Buying a CPU is basically easy: The more MHz, the better. But today there is another factor, which has become very important: The L2 cache. CPUs with integrated L2 Cache have proved to be faster since the cache works with full CPU clock (Pentium Pro, Celeron A, Pentium II Xeon) or half CPU clock (Pentium II) instead of "just" at the external bus speed as with Socket 7 systems (K6, K6-2, M2, Pentium MMX, WinChip C6).

Intel Celeron
Be careful with the Celeron: There are two models which I personally would avoid. It's the Celeron 266 and Celeron 300. Both do not have any L2 Cache and are inadequately slow (except with games). If you want a Celeron, get the Celeron 300A or the Celeron 333. They do have 128 kB L2 cache on-chip, which also works at full clock speed, and makes them as fast as a Pentium II at the same clock speed. If the price for a Pentium II 300 and a Celeron 300A is the same, you may want to get the Celeron because of two advantages: it uses 2.0V core voltage and has less heat production than the Pentium II and it's easier to overclock. The core voltage and heat production are no issue if the PII 300 is using the Deschutes core though. The Celeron 300A works with 66 MHz x4.5, but you can try 100 MHz x4.5 on a BX motherboard (= 450 MHz). Most Celeron CPUs will do this perfectly, but they need proper cooling (active). So you have spent less than $200 and get the performance of a Pentium II 450.
If you want to overclock other Celerons you may be glad to hear that it is easy and quite safe as well. The only thing you have to do is getting a motherboard which lets you chose the external bus speed independently from the CPU (How to Get All 66 MHz Slot 1 CPUs Running 100 MHz ). If you rise the FSB from 66 to 100 MHz, the 266 MHz Celeron will run at 400 MHz, and the 300 MHz type at 450 MHz. But be careful: Never buy a Celeron 333 for overclocking. At 100 MHz FSB it would run at 500 MHz, and this is really too much for the CPU. Since Intel CPUs come with fixed multipliers in the last time, it wouldn't be possible to run it at x4.5 instead of x5. The Celeron family has one disadvantage, which may be irrelevant for most of you: It cannot be used in multiprocessor systems unless you do a special procedure that includes the usage of your soldering iron.

Intel Pentium II
The Pentium II 233 and 266 MHz using the Klamath core should be avoided today. First they get quite hot, and second the Celeron 300A or 333 offers better performance at nearly the same price. If you want high performance without overclocking, there's no alternative for the Pentium II. It's the only CPU available at up to 450 MHz now. And this CPU can even be overclocked to 504 MHz (112 instead of 100 MHz bus speed). Just the price is very high (as always with Intel's top CPU).
All overclockers should try to get one of the Pentium II 300 CPUs (labeled SL2W8 from Costa Rica, also SL2YK, SL35V, SL2W7, SL33D, SL2VY) which have the Deschutes core and even 225 MHz cache modules (as used in real 450 MHz types)! This makes it possible to run them at 100 MHz x4.5 (450 MHz) or even 504 MHz. At this speed the cache modules require additional cooling of course. It's difficult overclocking the classic 300 MHz Pentium II with Klamath core. This CPU does really get hot and could possibly be damaged by overclocking. AMD K6-2
Intel is often associated with "expensive", so if you are out for the K6-2 you may try to save some money. Try to get one which is designed for 100 MHz bus speed (300 MHz or faster). Since the L2 cache is extremely performance relevant it is necessary to run it as fast as possible. The 300 MHz CPU can be run at 66 MHz x4.5 or 100 MHz x3, for example. Thanks to the 3DNow! instruction set, the little Socket 7 CPU is almost as fast as a Pentium II, but at a much lower price. So you do really benefit from 3DNow! while the sense of MMX is still questionable. AMD plans to release a new CPU, code name 'Sharptooth', with integrated L2 cache as well (making the board's cache L3 cache); so the future of Socket 7 seems to be secured for the next months. Nevertheless, high end user's should be aware that the K6-2 has still got a slower FPU than the Pentium II or Celeron.

Component Recommendations - Motherboard And Ram

As you know, the K6-2 requires a Socket 7 motherboard while the Celeron and Pentium II need a board with Slot 1. You should always chose your motherboard first by features, flexibility and compatibility and second by performance. A modern board should at least offer the following: at 4 PCI slots, 2 or 3 ISA slots, at least 3 DIMM sockets, flexible CPU setup options (various bus speeds, higher multipliers). Two USB ports, two COM ports, one parallel port, two IDE connectors, floppy controller and a PS/2 mouse connector are standard today.

Socket 7 boards today use either the ALi Aladdin V chipset or the VIA Apollo MVP3. There are more chipsets available for Slot 1 now: Intel's 440BX (the top model, 100 MHz, up to 1GB), the 440LX (66 MHz, up to 1GB), the 440EX (no ECC, limited amount of slots, 66 MHz), the VIA Apollo Pro, the SiS 5601/5595 and the new ALi Aladdin Pro II chipset. To find your motherboard, please refer to our latest motherboard reviews:

Socket 7 Review Summer 1998
Recommendations: Asus P5A, AOpen AX59Pro, MSI 5169, DFI P5BV3+, FIC VA-503, Tyan S1590S Slot 1 Review Fall 1998
Recommendations: MSI 6119, Chaintech 6BTM, Asus P2B, EPoX EP-61 BXA-M, AOpen AX6B Review of Motherboards with Alternative Slot1 Chipsets from SiS and VIA

The memory question can be answered quickly: 32 MB are minimum for Windows 95. If you want to run Windows 98 or Windows NT, don't install less than 64 MB. But as the prices for memory are relatively low, I would strongly recommend 128 MB. More are only necessary for memory intensive applications (picture publishing or other graphic stuff, servers) or permanent multitasking.

Try to get always the biggest modules available. If you want 128 MB, don't take two 64 MB memories to save $10. Maybe you will have to upgrade again soon, than you will be glad to have free DIMM sockets. All modern architectures do require SDRAM, so buying the wrong memory should not happen. If you have some money left, you could also get parity memory (for ECC). Then the system is able to correct single bit errors. Just don't forget that this feature has to be supported by the chipset and BIOS as well.

Send link to this page by email :

Your email address *

Your name *

Recipient address *

Send

* The email addresses collected via this form are not recorded on our servers and are only used for the sending request