Can I upgrade a PII 233 to celeron 500

[macssuck]

I have about 30 PII 233 or 266 systems at work and would like to upgrade them to a celeron 500 or around there the board is a Premio 212B made by MSIand the highest they say it supports is a Celeron 333 can I go higher?

 

[Beater]

Probably not unless they have a Bios flash available to support the newer processor. There is a possability though since the 500 and some 533 and all lower Celerons were non coppermine and I believe the same architecture as the PII. Anyone?

 

[Assimilator1]

If it supports the Celeron 333 then I would think it very likely it could support upto 533 (not FC PGA),after all it's just a different multiplier your talking about.
Celerons are multiplier locked so it shouldn't matter which is chosen via the switches.I can't be 100% sure though .

 

[RickH]

I wouldn't bet on it working without a BIOS upgrade. I tried a Celeron 300A on a LX chipset motherboard that had a working Celeron 266. The BIOS wouldn't identify it. No memory test, nothing. It's true the multiplyer is not an issue or the voltage. R.

 

[Assimilator1]

The Celeron 266 had no L2 cache ,the 300A did ,this isn't an issue between the 333 & 533 because they both have it

 

[RickH]

Cache?? What difference does the Cache make in the MB BIOS identifying the processor. In my case (C266 & C300A) the 300A didn't wasn't produced when the MB BIOS version was written, it didn't know what the C300A was. I am afraid this may be the case with the PII 233 to C 500 upgrade. I also had a BH6 MB with an early BIOS version, I replaced the PII450 with a PIII550 and it didn't recognize the new processor untill I upgraded the BIOS to a current version. R.

 

[macssuck]

thanks guys the board supports up to cely 333 with the latest bios so i think it will see a 500 just wasnt shure but i think ill have to borrow one before i buy 30 of them

 

[RickH]

Great idea. Let us know if it works.

 

[Assimilator1]

RickH

Cache?? What difference does the Cache make in the MB BIOS identifying the processor

Actually it can make quite a difference ,a PC I built some while back had an Aopen LX chipset board ,it was fine with a PII 233 but wouldn't boot with the Cel 300A! (until the bios was updated).The only real architectural difference between them is the L2 cache.

 

[macssuck]

I just put a cely 400 on a slocket into one of the machines and i booted but it did not seem any faster the other guy i work with started a few apps at the same time i did on a PII266 and it beat me whats going on?

 

[RickH]

The processor is only one thing that influences the computers apparent speed. Old LX computers have slow harddrives, slow drive interfaces, slow CDRs and probably not much memory. You could try WinTune or Soft Sandra and benchmark the machine with the old 266 and 400MHz. It must be faster, but if your trying for PIII 700 performance you are out of luck. R.

 

[Assimilator1]

macssuck

What apps did you use to compare speeds?

 

[macssuck]

Warning I worked about 13 hours today so stuff below and this may not make sense
Assimilator1 I just started IE and word 2000 I know that wasnt very much of a test but i was in a hurry because the lady i stole the cely from wanted to use her puter. I put it in after work agin and played with it some more and it seems to be stable and when i was in powerpoint it ran a little faster so i think i will upgrade them all plus im putting another 64MB in them to get 128 total since i tried the ram before and that made a huge improvement so i think with both the machines will run pretty good keep in mind that these machines are in a school lab and are used for office apps mainly

here is the complete list of whats in the machines for those that care
MSI LX mobo
PII 233 or 266
64MB
3g or 5g 5400rpm
4MB Diamond or ATI
Intel Pro 100 or POS 3COM
crap ISA sound card

 

[RickH]

Try Wintune, it's just 1-2MBs. Just search for it on Yahoo etc. It will give numbers to compare the processors. R.

 

[MadRat]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but... try www.powerleap.com if you want up to 766mHz. While it may not be quite what you are looking for, it is the ultimate level of performance out of an LX board.

PL-iP3 "Slotket" (no CPU)
Sale Price $49.95

Runs the Celeron-2 on the LX motherboard. You should be able to order a 20-pack of Celeron-700's for $70 each. The 733's run about $80/each. The 766's run about $105/each. By comparison you can find PPGA Celeron-533's for $50 each. (Don't forget the extra $10/each for a slotket.)

Now, figure in the type of case you have and look at what some 810e-chipset motherboards are going for... $40/each! The boards usually have both integrated sound and video. Not only that, but some support P!!!'s, too.

Just wanted to stir the wheels in your head. =)