Are all Pentium 233's MMX processors?

[Muse]

I've determined that my soundcard is bad in my 2nd system and I thought to replace it with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz but I see that this sound card requires at least a Pentium 200 MHz MMX. I've got a Cyrix P166+ in there now. My MB's manual (Tyan Tomcat 1 Rev. 4 1562s) says that it will accommodate up to a Pentium 200. At the time, I don't believe the MMX had been released, much less the 233. I'm pretty sure that the 233 was about the limit for the board, though. I'm wondering if all Pentium 233 processors are MMX. Thanks for the answer or pointer to the answer.

 

[scalf]

I'm pretty sure Intel did not make a non MMX pentium 233. I also know the tomcat 1 did not support the dual voltage the MMX required.

 

[Booster]

I know there were non-MMX P200s for sure, and I think there were limited shipments of 233 non-MMXs. But they never became mainstream. Anyway, it will be extremely hard to find even a 200Mhz P54C Pentium. Ah, good old days.

I don't think you should bother replacing a CPU. It will be extremely hard to find one. And the performance difference will be negligible compared to your Cyrix. I suggest change a soundcard for smth less demanding and cheaper.

 

[AndyHui]

Intel did not make any P54C Pentium Classics at 233MHz.

The fastest P54C Pentium Classic is 200MHz. Although initially they were quite rare in 1996-1997, the Pentium 200 became extremely common towards the end of 1998, especially in OEM systems.

All Pentiums at 233MHz are MMX processors.

 

[pm]

What Andy said. Although I didn't think they were that hard to find in 1996-97. I worked on that one and we shipped plenty of them in the early 1997 time frame. I remember we got a t-shirt and a little plaque due to the high ramp-rate to high-volume manufacturing.

But like Andy said, 200MHz was the fastest P54CS Pentium available. 233MHz was for MMX parts.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: scalf
I'm pretty sure Intel did not make a non MMX pentium 233. I also know the tomcat 1 did not support the dual voltage the MMX required.

Hmm. I saved a post on the alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan newsgroup with these lines from 7/26/99:

> i run a Tyan Tomcat S1562D Rev. 4 with Award Bios 4.02 and
> an Intel Pentium MMX 233 (Single) at this moment.

That MB is not the same as mine but it's very similar. It's the dual processor board. I assumed that if it will run that chip then my single processor 1562s will run it. Maybe not. Where did you get your information? Now my BIOS is the original 3.02 and I have a later BIOS saved but never flashed it. I could do that, of course, if it would help.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Booster
I know there were non-MMX P200s for sure, and I think there were limited shipments of 233 non-MMXs. But they never became mainstream. Anyway, it will be extremely hard to find even a 200Mhz P54C Pentium. Ah, good old days.

I don't think you should bother replacing a CPU. It will be extremely hard to find one. And the performance difference will be negligible compared to your Cyrix. I suggest change a soundcard for smth less demanding and cheaper.

I could get a cheaper sound card. The Santa Cruz I could move to a better system when I get it. Finding the Pentium 200 MMX and 233 MMX is real easy. Just check Ebay. They sell loads of them. In fact I think I saw a handful of auctions for 233 MMX Pentiums closing today (8/3).

 

[garyboz]

An MMX chip won't work in your motherboard without modification of your board. The mmx chips ran at a different voltage than the non-mmx ones did. Your board doesn't support that voltage.

 

[AndyHui]

Ugh...I got my dates wrong. It was supposed to say "extremely common towards the end of 1997". Sorry Patrick.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: garyboz
An MMX chip won't work in your motherboard without modification of your board. The mmx chips ran at a different voltage than the non-mmx ones did. Your board doesn't support that voltage.

Yes, you are right. I searched Google Groups and found a bunch of threads on this. I remember discussions of the modifications and there was a website with very good instructions and graphics on how you can make the mods. I think I printed them out or stored them in a database but am not at all sure I can find that stuff now. It involved (I think) taking a razor blade and cutting one or two tracers on the MB. Very easy and it effectively makes it a dual voltage board. I think once you do that you have to use an MMX chip. I may just put together a budget ATX system instead of doing this. Even if it works, the old AT system would be fairly slow, with only 64 MB RAM and a 233 MHz or 200 MHz CPU. I assume that any CPU I find now over 350 MHz, Intel or AMD will have the MMX instruction set.

 

[brinstar117]

I'm wondering though, as long as the PCI slot version is compliant... shouldn't the soundcard work?

I thought that hardware requirements were more oriented for the software that it comes with.

I could be completely wrong though =)

 

[mikecel79]

That's what I was thinking. The P200 requirement is probably for the software. Hell you can get a whole PII 266 or 300 system for less than $100 on Ebay.

Mike

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: brinstar117
I'm wondering though, as long as the PCI slot version is compliant... shouldn't the soundcard work?

I thought that hardware requirements were more oriented for the software that it comes with.

I could be completely wrong though =)

I'm not sure I understand. The sound card I was thinking about, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz specifies a minimum requirement of a Pentium 200 MMX. My MB won't work with a split voltage MMX without mods and I'm not sure I can find the instructions on how to make the mods. I was at a computer show Saturday and saw barebones systems pretty cheap. I could buy a case, CPU, order some RAM from Crucial, pull the CDRW and floppy from my old system and have a pretty darn fast system probably for less than $200. Could maybe even get 512 MB RAM. That's going to be several times faster than the current system or what I would have if I upgrade to a 233 MMX. That's my thinking now. It has sentimental value because it's the first system I built, but I have to be realistic. I guess I'll have to get a heatsink/fan for the CPU too. Guess that'll be an interesting computer show.

 

[pm]

The drivers for the Santa Cruz probably use MMX instructions. That's why the minimum requirement is a Pentium w/ MMX.

There was a thread in GH a couple of days ago about a guy who bought a PCI modem for his Pentium 200 and it wouldn't install the drivers because he didn't have MMX instructions.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: pm
The drivers for the Santa Cruz probably use MMX instructions. That's why the minimum requirement is a Pentium w/ MMX.

There was a thread in GH a couple of days ago about a guy who bought a PCI modem for his Pentium 200 and it wouldn't install the drivers because he didn't have MMX instructions.

I think I'm going to buy a cheap case with a 350 W power supply, mid-priced MB with a good reputation and a decent if not cutting edge CPU, some Crucial RAM online and swap over the floppy, CDRW from my old AT case. Someone told me that that system has a problem. He wasn't specific but he generally knows what he's talking about and I suspect that there is something screwy, maybe the MB I'm thinking. Why would Partition Magic 7.0 not run on it without GPFs every time? I think I better "upgrade."