I am trying to upgrade my processor from
a Cyrix PR200 to something a little
more powerful and a little more stable. I'm not sure what my motherboard
can take, and it is a generic motherboard so I couldn't tell you the name.
I know that my motherboard supports up to a 233 MMX Pentium, so I was
leaning towards that. However, I was also considering the option of
installing an AMD K6-2 400 or 500. I am wondering if you could tell me if
I can put that fast of a CPU in my motherboard. Also, my motherboard only
operates at 75MHz bus speed.
Here is all the information I could find on my motherboard:
VXpro+ Pentium MMX chipset
Supports 75-233 Pentium CPUs with 321-pin ZIF socket
Supports Pentium P54C, P55C, Cyrix 6x86L/6x86MX(M2), and AMD K5,K6
Switching power provide CPU core voltage from 2.5V to 3.5V
CPU Speed jumpers at 50, 55, 60, 66, 75
CPU Multipliers at 1.5/3.5, 2.5, 3.0
Am I going to lose a lot of performance running a 400MHz at 66MHz or
75MHz? I would greatly appreciate any insight into this matter.
As specified, your motherboard settings
are too restrictive to natively support an AMD K6-2 processor at 400 or
500MHz, for three reasons:
By checking our K6-2 Statistics page,
you see that the lowest CPU voltage setting available on your
motherboard is 2.5V, where the K6-2 typically runs at 2.2V. It would
therefore run a bit hot, if at all.
Although a few of the older K6-2 models can run on a 66MHz bus, all
the ones currently available require a 100MHz bus speed.
Even at the top bus speed of 75MHz with your clock multiplier set at
3, the fastest processor your motherboard could support would run at
only (75x3) 225MHz.
To upgrade your CPU on the same motherboard, you will require an
upgrade kit, such as those offered by PowerLeap and Evergreen
Technologies (linked to our Vendors
page). These kits include a new processor and the required voltage
regulator with clock multiplier settings to allow it to function on an
older motherboard. They can bring your system up to the performance of a
K6-2/400 (Evergreen) or even a K6-III
(PowerLeap). From our CPU Comparator, you
can see that these upgrades would provide a speed increase of more than
200-250%!
The CPU
Scorecard assumes no risk or liability for damage or loss due to
the use of the information or advice provided here. All responses are
based on the best available information at the time of writing. However,
users of this information who wish to apply it to their computer
situations do so at their own risk.
