mobo/processor upgrade for my p266 with AT board and pc100 RAM???

[AG73]

I have a very old amd-k6 266Mhz machine with an AT motherboard and case (see exact specs below). Over the years I have upgraded the components so that it now contains:

128Mb pc100 ram
voodoo3 3000 video card
27 gig maxtor 7200rpm hard drive
panasonic scsi CD burner
generic cd-rom, ethernet card, floppy drive.

The current motherboard will only support a 300Mhz processor. I am now thinking of replacing my motherboard and processor, especially if it's a cheap upgrade.

I like all of the components in my machine but the processor is too damn slow. I'm getting a 1Ghz loaded athlon soon and basically want to upgrade my 266 just for the hell of it, as it will just be a spare.

What is a reasonable mobo/processor combination considering that the case is designed for an AT board, not ATX, and that all my RAM is pc100? I think I would be willing to spend no more than $200 but obviously would like the fastest upgrade I can get. Is it even worth it in the first place? I want to keep all of the current components.

thanks!
AG


specs:
PCChips M572 Pentium Class 512K Pipelined Cache
PCI Intel TX Chipset AT Motherboard (up to 300MHz CPU,
83.3MHz Bus) with onboard Super I/O and Dual UltraDMA IDE Channels, 4 PCI + 3 ISA Slots,
PS/2 Mouse Port, USB Interfacex2, Infrared Port, Dual AT&ATX P/S Connector, AMI Flash
BIOS... [WWW.PCCHIPS.COM]
AMD K6-266MHz MMX Processor with Monitored Cooling
Fan

 

[AndyHui]

You should be able to get a K6-2 400 or even a K6-2+ 450 in there. Make sure that you have the latest BIOS update though. The 400 and the 450 involve a multiplier remap at 1.5 multiplier, so it should be OK for your system. The 450 will run on a 75MHz FSB.

No need to change motherboard or anything.

 

[AG73]

thanks for the input. I can use a 400 or 450Mhz processor on the current board? I dont' get it - the manual says it only supports up to 300Mhz. Sorry that I'm so dumb. i'm new at this

thanks
AG

 

[AndyHui]

Probably when the manual was printed, there were no 400s and 450s.

These 2 processors are relatively recent, but still are compatible with older motherboards due to the way that they remap the mutliplier.

 

[Stang289]

My old AT socket 7 mobo manual said it would only support up to a 233. I have it running @ 500MHz now (6x83). With most AMD K6-2 (400-500) CPUs you can set the multiplier to 2x on the mobo and the CPU will run at 6x. So if your mobo only has a 66MHz bus you can run up to 400MHz. Mine has a setting for 75MHz bus and a undocumented setting for 83MHz bus. It also has a jumper to switch to async mode so the PCI and ISA will not be running to fast. Mine is stable, but there is no way to be sure about yours without trying. Good luck
Stang