CPU/MB question-easiest 150 points ever!

There aren't any precautions because it probably won't work. If it does work, your 866 cpu will run at the 700Mhz. The memory you have would need to be 100Mhz or 133Mhz (depending on which cpu you opt for) so check that.

If your memory is 100 or133, I would say buy a new motherboard. You can find a decent board for a PIII 800 with a 100 or 133 bus for about $100-120. It would be well worth your while. If your memory is only 66Mhz then you're poofin. You would need new ram, new cpu so you might as well get a new board with it. Either way, pony up for a new board and get something that won't cause an ulcer

As long as your CPU has the right connectors(and there are many articles, including some here which will explain that better than I), its not a problem. Your MB is a sSlot 1 type - there are adapters to allow the Socket 370 CPUs in your Slot 1 slot.

Many motherboards "automatically" detect CPU, so it may get confused, you should be able to manually override in the BIOS settings. In effect you are underclocking to whatever the highest setting your BIOS will allow.

I have underclocked PIIsin a similar situation.

I don't think there will be any cooling concerns other than normal, because the chip will run cooler than if it was running at the higher speed. I would put in a good quality CPU fan anyway, as the price difference betweena poor fan and a good one is not that much. The machine will run hotter than it did with a C333, but if the MB is rated for 700 Mhz, should not be a problem.

Good luck.

James

I agree with the other respondents that you should be able to plug in and use the 800 or higher, it just may not run at full speed.

My only concern about heat would be if the new CPU required a lower core voltage than your MB can provide. If so,no amount of fans will keep your system up for the long term.

A new MB would be a good idea. You would get UDMA 100 support and a higher memory bus speed. These would actually improve performance more than doubling the CPU speed.

There are bargins out there on factory refurbished boards. www.mwave.com has a number of refurb boards. You can get a new MB and CPU at 1GHz or better for less than $150.

Hi,

It should be possible. Here's an article from someone who successfully underclocked his BH6!
Admittedly it was a much lower clock speed overall, but the theory is the same...

http://www.overclockers.com/tips05/

If you choose the 5.5 multiplier and 133Mhz FSB settings, you'll get as close as you can to you CPU's potential (732Mhz) but if your memory is only rated to 100Mhz, it might not be stable @ 133Mhz.

Cheers,
Tim.

Hi,

The problem you're going to have is that everyone will say "should"... unless someone has actually done it in a BH6!

This is quite unlikely. Most home built PCs are as state of the art as people can afford. Home techies are like that. And even if some people have done it, then chances are they wont regularly subscribe to this site...

Still, you may be lucky so hold out for a bit longer...

I assume you weren't satisfied with the article I posted? The CPU was underclocked and worked OK.

If you try this yourself, you may have to manually set the FSB and multipliers as the motherboard may not automatically get the information correctly. That wont be an issue as to it working or not, though.

Make sure you've got the latestBIOS.

If you're really worried about this, why not buy a celeron 700? You should be able to pick one up on an auction site. It'll be cheap too.

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/pclink/cpu.html

$54. Plus a bit of postage. What more could you want?

Cheers,
Tim.