Can via C3 be overclocked?

[CheapTOFU]

I saw an ad for Via C3 and noticed it's really cheap..

Also I saw ppl using this cpu without any fans in the case...

Anyone tried to oc this thing?
result?

 

[mrzed]

Because the C3 uses socket 370, you should be able to do a FSB overclock if the board allows it. I have no idea how well they would overclock, partly because nobody ever does it. It would completely defeat the purpose of getting this chip. The only advantage the C3 has is heat and power consumption. Overclocking it would negate these advantages.

A celeron will perform far better at stock speeds than an overclocked C3, and overclock better as well.

 

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by: mrzed
Because the C3 uses socket 370, you should be able to do a FSB overclock if the board allows it. I have no idea how well they would overclock, partly because nobody ever does it. It would completely defeat the purpose of getting this chip. The only advantage the C3 has is heat and power consumption. Overclocking it would negate these advantages.

A celeron will perform far better at stock speeds than an overclocked C3, and overclock better as well.

totally correct, sir. go get a celeron, if you need socket 370 and you want to overclock.

 

[daveqb]

i read in an article it does overclock well.
but like above said, why would u ??

it can a little overclock without fan, i htink likt 60-100 mhz,

not bad,
i cant recall where that article was now

 

[technophobic]

can you turbo-charge a Yugo?

actually, i have a non-oc c3 and i had to put on a good heatsink to keep the temperature cool enough to forego a fan. you might have problems with oc and going fanless

 

[andreasl]

Aren't these things unlocked even?

 

[paralazarguer]

Dude, according to the tom's article, the 800mhz C3 runs like a P2-233 in most applications. Why would you ever want that?

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: 7757524
Dude, according to the tom's article, the 800mhz C3 runs like a P2-233 in most applications. Why would you ever want that?

because they dont need a fan. put them in a mp3/dvd player box and it will be silent for your HT.

 

[paralazarguer]

A pentium 4 doesn't need a fan either. It will clock throttle but it doesn't need a fan. Even after the clock throttling you'll probably see the same performance anyway I don't think that a processor that performs like a P2-233 and sucks at media especially would be even remotely useful for a set top box.

 

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by: 7757524
A pentium 4 doesn't need a fan either. It will clock throttle but it doesn't need a fan. Even after the clock throttling you'll probably see the same performance anyway I don't think that a processor that performs like a P2-233 and sucks at media especially would be even remotely useful for a set top box.

well, you're wrong. the c3 is a perfectly adequete CPU for a set top box, and many people have included it in their entertainment pc's. there is a nice article here at anandtech.com about a set top box using the c3, and i would suggest that you read it. anyway, a 933 mHz c3 performs like a 500 mHz pentium III is most instances, and you can't claim that it isn't fast enough to decode dvd's or any other functions that a non gaming system is likely going to need.

 

[paralazarguer]

Not even close to being right and here's the proof. Pay close attention to the MPEG 4 decoding. As in DVD You'll see that it performs at one third of the celeron 666. What a joke.

 

[andreasl]

That benchmark is ENcoding, not DEcoding. The CPU only have to be able to Decode a DVD (MPEG2 format) in real-time to watch it. It doesn't have to do it 10x faster than real-time. CPU's have been able to do this for many years by now. It's not very CPU intensive task.

 

[EdipisReks]

7757524, mpeg4 encoding has nothing to do with a set top/entertainment pc. if you are going to complain about something, at least have the correct set of benchmarks. the C3 is perfectly adequete for a set top/entertainment pc.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: 7757524
A pentium 4 doesn't need a fan either. It will clock throttle but it doesn't need a fan. Even after the clock throttling you'll probably see the same performance anyway I don't think that a processor that performs like a P2-233 and sucks at media especially would be even remotely useful for a set top box.

why spend the money on a p4 when a c3 will do?

 

[Soulkeeper]

i saw a C3 motherboard at Fry's electronics the other day
it had the 800mhz chip soldered to the board
and the board itself looked like a small book as far as size was concerned
the heatsink on the chip was just an old 486 hsf
it was nice n purdy
they even had the cases to go with um which were no bigger than a cat or small dog
heh
you could put linux on it and use it as a router or something simple

 

[paralazarguer]

How could you say that encoding is not important!!!! What about recording or DVD burning or using time shifting. Sorry, but those are things that people want to do with set top boxes and as those benches show, it can't cut it as it performs the same as a celeron 222Mhz in encoding...lame....

 

[crypticlogin]

How could you say that encoding is not important!!!! What about recording or DVD burning or using time shifting. Sorry, but those are things that people want to do with set top boxes and as those benches show, it can't cut it as it performs the same as a celeron 222Mhz in encoding...lame....

Obviously some people want more out of their set-top box other than to watch a DVD. In *those* cases, getting some whizz! bang! out of the box isn't going to be done with the C3.

But I think some people are still glossing over the big, fat exclamation point about the C3 in favor of benchmarks: LOW POWER. Via planned (well, at least wanted ) to throw the C3 into embedded devices and notebooks so power was #1 on the spec sheet. And I'm beginning to miss the days when electronic appliances were perfectly fine with passive cooling systems. Heck, when did game consoles start coming with fans?!?

 

[CheapTOFU]

If it can overclock very well without any fans...
then it is much better than AMD XP or Intel P4..

XP and P4 are fast and great for gaming or anything..

But if I want a webserver, set top box, or DVD player, I see no point in using XP or P4.

I had never seen a XP or P4 PC without a fan... and it will be nice to enjoy a DVD movie without any noise..

 

[Soulkeeper]

exactely
mmmmmmmmmm

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well C3's suck, there's no doubt about it! Sure they can run without a fan, sure they use little power but so does my dusty Amiga and it's probably faster! No doubt the C3 has it's place, but if you guys check the specs you'll find the laughable 800mhz C3 perf is below that of a 600mhz Celeron! Not only that but due to it sucking so much in multimedia it CAN'T decode DVD type streams without special hw to help. Even the over-priced 933mhz model can't quite do it, you need the 1ghz model:

C3 933mhz & 1ghz

C3 933mhz

C3 but no benchmarks?

C3 Ezra 933mhz vs Celeron 850

PSPowerZone (C3-933 vs Cel850) shows in Sandra: half speed MIPS, quarter FLOPS, slower than Celeron600; MMcpu 1/5 & 1/3 speed. MEM 1/3 speed.

As you can see, if you want a passively cooled, low power CPU the C3 might be for you. But most would still be much better off underclocking a Celeron or Duron! In a desktop PC you've got the PSU fan anyway, so you won't hear a low-power fan!