Recommendation Request: Processor Upgrade

[Tigger2k]

I am looking to upgrade an old P3 500 (Katmai) processor. What is the best approach? I have looked at the Powerleap ($160.00) and the Slot-T (20.00) + Processor. Any suggestions are welcome. I am not looking to spend a lot, but want to get the most for my dollar.

Thanks in advance,
Tigger2k

 

[mechBgon]

Assuming your budget is the $160, and you have enough PC100-ish RAM for your needs, how about an i815-based motherboard and a Tualatin-based Celeron II? Like this: mwave bundle with Intel-brand board and a 1.4GHz Celeron II Not too demanding on your power supply, and you can re-use any PC100 or PC133 RAM you are using now. The Cel2 1.4GHz is basically a P3, so it is more powerful per MHz than the P4-based Celerons.

 

[Tigger2k]

I am not sure how well a new MB would work (I have an old Dell system - Dimension XPS T). I was hoping to upgrade for minimal cost (less than the 160). I do appreciate mechBgon showing me the MB at MWave, however, I am not sure of it added functionality or compatibilty with my current system. Also, I am currently running with 768MB of RAM, whereas this board has a 512MB limit.

Tigger2k

 

[mechBgon]

Ah, ok, so you have a Dell. Definitely good to know, as some of them have wacky PSU pinouts

Let me ask you this: is the CPU really the bottleneck in your system? Those old ATA33 IDE controllers are totally putting the brakes on any modern hard drive you might add to the rig, unless you use an add-in IDE controller card, for instance. Do you really actually use more that 512Mb of RAM?

At any rate, if you could stuff a 1.4GHz Celeron II in there, that would about triple your CPU performance. Hope that's a help in the brainstorming

 

[Tigger2k]

The HD controller may be the bottleneck. I am still using the original onboard controller. Suggestion noted to look into using a PCI card for the HDs. Also, probably not using more than 512 memory, but felt it would be better to keep the chip in the computer than on the shelf.

Any suggesstions if I went with just a CPU upgrade (and slocket)? I have a WTB in the For Sale forum and have had several people provide me with slockets they have for sale, but I am not sure of the processor speed they will support. The Slot-T will support a Celeron 1.4 and is not that expensive ($20.00). I am just curious if this is the sound approach or will I encounter other issues down the road.

 

[styrafoam]

The main issue is cpu voltage, the ability of the slocket to adjust voltage settings will determine what cpu you can use. If the Slot T works as advertised then that would probably be the best route to go, tulatin celerons are still available from vendors(newegg has the 1.4 tulatin celeron retail for $61). With a tweakable slocket you would probably be able to go to a celeron 1.1 with a coppermine core, but finding the celeron is another issue to overcome. One of my computers has an old bx board with a top supported chip of a 600mhz katami, but I have a celeron 950 on a slocket in there. It runs stable, the bios cant identify the cpu, but wcpuid reports it as a celeron 950.

 

[OracleMan]

I have Dell XPS-R400--cannot upgrade the motherboard because the proprietary power/reset/hdd led connectors. So I took the PII400 out I replace it with PowerLeap Slocket with Intel Celeron 1.3GHz Tualatin.
Some site sell PowerLeap without the cpu for $41 @ www.pcsforeveryone.com. Make sure you update the system bios to the latest. My system boot up says "Pentium Pro 500", but in windows it says the correct speed at 1300Mhz. Check your system compatibility first before you try it at www.powerleap.com or read the review at www.tomshardware.com. If you have motherboard with FSB 133 you can run Intel Pentium III 1.4Ghz Tualatin.

 

[Tigger2k]

OracleMan,

Are you saying that no other slockets will work or that you have only used the Powerleap? Powerleap lists my computer (Dimension XPST500) as compatible. Thanks for the link to the other site selling the socket for less. This may save me a bit of money.

Does anyone know about the Slot-T slocket? Will it work or should I spend the extra for the Powerleap?

Tigger2k

 

[OracleMan]

I'm just saying powerleap works fine with my Dell and I'm sure it works fine with your Dell model. But recommended you to check the system compatibility first though. I installed powerleap because it has onboard power regulator to support tualatin processor.
I'm not sure about Slot-T. There is one user in this forum posted successfully running slot-t.

One other thing, Dell uses Intel motherboard and that board can accommodate 768MB memory. If you flash intel bios you can use all of your available memory. Dell just rewrite the bios to limit the max memory that's all.