Does anyone have a C3? How well do they overclock?

[spazntwich1]

I'm planning on getting one of those VIA Eden mobo setups just to mess around with. I think the highest end model they make currently is one with an 800mhz C3 in it.

I know they have weak FPUs, but I think if I can overclock it to 933mhz-1ghz, I can get decent performance out of it in low-res quake3 (Coupled with a PCI Gf2 mx of course).

Does anyone know how well these things overclock?

 

[Daovonnaex]

I frankly do not know how well they overclock, but they already sell a 933MHz C3. I don't really recommend for Quake III, as while does have a strong AL calculation power, its FP power is very weak.

 

[ChrisADuffy]

spazntwich1, How much is that VIA Eden set-up?

 

[Rand]

It tends to vary quite considerably, but most of the 800MHz C3's can generally hit 890-933MHz. About 866MHz on the low end of the expected range.

 

[WarCon]

Are there any benefits in running a C3 versus say a Duron or Celeron? Price? Heat? Just curious.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< spazntwich1, How much is that VIA Eden set-up? >>



110$ for the 800mhz cpu, integrated video, integrated sound, integrated LAN, and the motherboard holding it all together. The motherboard comes with 1 PCI slot.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< Are there any benefits in running a C3 versus say a Duron or Celeron? Price? Heat? Just curious. >>



You just named the 2 reasons.

Performance is certainly NOT one of the reasons to get one.

 

[WarCon]

BIOSTAR M6VLQ VIA PLE CHIPSET ULTRA DMA66 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 3xPCI/1xISA/1xAMR/2xDIMM W/DIRECT AGP,LAN & AC97 AUDIO - $50

or

ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 3xPCI/1xAMR/2xDIMM W/DIRECT VGA, LAN & AUDIO - $60

plus

INTEL CELERON 1.0A GHZ FC-PGA2 (BX80530F1000256) RETAILED W/COOLING FAN (3 YEARS WARRANTY)
- $70
will end up with much better system.

At mwave you can get it a little cheaper as a bundle. I think the Biostar and the Celeron were $118 as a bundle.

 

[Rand]

<< Are there any benefits in running a C3 versus say a Duron or Celeron? Price? Heat? Just curious. >>



Heat and power consumption only. Performance is very poor, clock for clock a 66MHz FSB Celeron will kick it's ass with ease.
The price isnt especially good either, though it's decent.

It's lone saving grace is the fact that it can run at very reasonable temperatures with only passive cooling, no fan is required.

It consumes extremely little power, and runs very cool. A fan isnt at all needed even with the fastest C3, and with a fan you can bet it won't deviate an inch from room temperature.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< BIOSTAR M6VLQ VIA PLE CHIPSET ULTRA DMA66 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 3xPCI/1xISA/1xAMR/2xDIMM W/DIRECT AGP,LAN & AC97 AUDIO - $50

or

ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 3xPCI/1xAMR/2xDIMM W/DIRECT VGA, LAN & AUDIO - $60

plus

INTEL CELERON 1.0A GHZ FC-PGA2 (BX80530F1000256) RETAILED W/COOLING FAN (3 YEARS WARRANTY)
- $70
will end up with much better system.

At mwave you can get it a little cheaper as a bundle. I think the Biostar and the Celeron were $118 as a bundle. >>



Very interesting. I'll look at the dimensions of the mobos, because one of the reasons I'm so interested in the Eden mobos is the fact that they're TINY, and I could build an almost totally silent PC with them.

Warcon, would you happen to know if it's possible to passively cool a 1.0a Celeron? I assume the a means it's a tulatin, and I wonder if a large enough chunk of metal would be able to cool it...

 

[WarCon]

Are you wanting to have no fans at all in your case? I wouldn't think that would be a good option. But you can run a big passive heatsink and blow a case fan on it probably and keep it cool enough.

The retail heatsink that comes with the Celeron is really pretty quiet though. A powersupply fan makes about as much noise as it.

You might even get away with undervolting the fan on it (7v) and then you probably wouldn't hear it.

But if you want to run totally passive the C3 might just be the way to go.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< Are you wanting to have no fans at all in your case? I wouldn't think that would be a good option. But you can run a big passive heatsink and blow a case fan on it probably and keep it cool enough.

The retail heatsink that comes with the Celeron is really pretty quiet though. A powersupply fan makes about as much noise as it.

You might even get away with undervolting the fan on it (7v) and then you probably wouldn't hear it.

But if you want to run totally passive the C3 might just be the way to go. >>



Your suggestion is interesting, to say the least. Micro-ATX mobos don't seem to be THAT much smaller than ITX ones, and a 1ghz Celeron would give me marked speed improvements. Of course, all I plan on having this box do is act as a dedicated game server (mostly q3), so I don't NEED much power (hence the quiet aspect of it). But I'm definitely going to look at a micro-ATX mobo now, and thanks for your help!