How well do those Evergreen processor upgrades work?

[XMan]

I've got a Pentium 90 system that was a pretty smoking setup back in the day (128MB EDO, 4MB PCI graphics, etc.) and I figure it would make a pretty good file server if I juiced up the processor speed a little bit. I've got all the parts I need, and according to Evergreen's website the system is compatible, so for $120 bucks I can upgrade the system to a 400MHz.

Has anyone tried one of the Spectra upgrades? Do they work as advertised?

 

[Adul]

Works very well on my tyan tomcat 3 MB. using it has a win2k server.

 

[XMan]

Is that dual processor board, Adul?

 

[Mister T]

not worth it in my opinion.

you can hook up a duron system for about 200 bucks total and have an 800 Mhz machine.
You could salvage the Video Card, hard drive, floppy and CD-ROM.

Just need to buy

duron
mobo
case
128mb Ram

should be doable for about 200

 

[XMan]

128MB RAM: $40
ATX Case w/PS: $60
Duron 800MHz: $80
Socket A Mobo: $120

That's $300 bucks right there.

I'd have to buy a video card as well. The video is on board.

 

[hans007]

you'll need a bios update possibly. Should work fine though. Might want to comparison shop with powerleap, and kingston upgrades also

 

[Deeko]

Aren't those based on other processors by Intel/AMD or something like that? It should work pretty well, I would think...maybe not the same as going out and getting a new CPU at that speed, but still much better than what you have now.

 

[Vinny N]

What kind of file server are you thinking of Xerox man?

I'd think that a file server would be better off with an upgrade to a faster/meaner/bigger hard drive and a 100mbit nic if it didn't have one already...before I'd upgrade the processor.

 

[XMan]

I've got a 100MBit NIC, and I'll be swapping out the HD with a 30.7GB, 7200rpm drive. I'll be using it for file storage, and possibly as a router when I get DSL.

 

[Vinny N]

Ah allrighty.

Well, the only problems I've seen from 3rd party cpu upgrades are when they are used in more proprietary systems like Compaq systems with unfriendly BIOSes.

For the most part, they will work nicely in standard/"clone" systems. Doesn't Evergreen have a program(which of course comes with the actual cpu upgrade package) on their website that quickly tests your system for compatibility with the upgrade?

 

[XMan]

Yeah. This system is compatible, it's a Digital Celebris workstation.

 

[Mister T]

Xerox,

Check Price watch man.

You can get a Duron 700 /Mobo combo with built in sound and 10/100 card for

117 + 15 shipping

Plus another 100 for RAM and Case.

230 MAX.

 

[Bleep]

Your in luck Tiger Direct has these on sale now for $20.00 Bucks a real deal.
Bleep

 

[DARRIN]

I upgraded my mothers puter from 100MHZ to I think it was 266MHz with one of those. It worked fine except the bios would not recognize the higher processor speed. Everytime she boots up it givers her an error. Something about unrecognizable processor speed press F1 to resume. After pressing F1 it boots fine. I never did the bios upgrade. She said she didn't mind pressing F1 when she booted. The processor upgrade even came with a little benchmarking utility so that you could see the improvement. The only problem I see is that I'm not sure your mobo could handle 400MHZ. Can it?

 

[Verygreedy]

Yes. I was also wondering that. Odds are that if your running a Pentium 90 your mainboard will only support up to 200 or 233 mhz. Sounds like a good idea to get a duron update. I'm sure you can do it for 200$.. I got my case for my Linux box for 27$ and its a decent case.

 

[randypj]

My Dad and I have used Evergreen in the past, and my brother went from a P90 to PNY 233 on his Gateway, and nary a problem. For gaming the boost wasn't enough and my bro' bought a new pc anyway, but they all did work as advertised. I would say only if you can get it cheap enough, and only since you aren't gaming with it.
--Randy

 

[TravisBickle]

$120 is a lot of money for such a slow processor nowadays. i think it's for mugs personally.

 

[tkdkid]

You'll most likely need to upgrade the bios even to get the computer to boot if you upgrade to a k6-2 processor.

Also windows 95 (non osr2 versions) won't boot properly with the k6 processors, so you'll need to upgrade at least to windows 98.

If you want a really fast FTP server, go with a duron setup. You get performance increases in a lot of different areas.

duron processors are about as fast as an equivalently clocked PIII.
sdram is much faster than EDO. (7ns vs 70ns)
you get a 200MHz system bus (100 MHz double pumped), instead of 33MHz which you most likely have now.
You can use the UDMA 100 drives.
You can upgrade the system to Windows 2000 for stability.

And basically you save yourself from a lot of headaches and frustration from trying to make your machine do what you want it to.

 

[Sugadaddy]

I'd sell the mobo/cpu and EDO ram and get a cheap Duron mobo/cpu with SDram. It won't cost you that much more, and at least you'll have a decent system. BTW, EDO is worth alot since they don't make it anymore. The upgrade you're looking at seems to cost alot and still leaves you with a system that'll be slow and have absolutely no upgrade path.

 

[emjem]

tkdkid's got it right. You can't get enough boost in performance with these upgrade chips to make it worth the price. Either do it right or stick with the P90. I don't see how a 400 in that old box is going to do much better than the P90 for file storage and router funtion.

File storage? Get a burner (or another hdd) for your main.

Router? Buy a four port for $100 or less (I just picked up on the SMC Barricade for $67)