Unlocked PIII? Yes!

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Hello all,
I was surfing some technology pages, and ran across the evergreen technologies "spectra IIIx" they say it is based on the intel PIII, and it supports variable clock multiplier settings....that's right I said variable clock settings...I will paste what I read, so there's no mistake

The Evergreen Spectra III is an affordable, flexible computer processor designed to deliver the performance required by today's operating systems, such as Windows, Linux and Unix. The Spectra III is designed for use in any industry-standard socket 370 system and fully supports variable clock multiplier settings. The Spectra III's innovative architecture allows front side bus settings of 66MHz, 100MHz
here's the link so you can read it for yourselves.
http://www.evertech.com/products/spectraiii/

[Mr B]

Very interesting....

One could only hope these become incredibly popular, and gives intel the notion to unlock the multi again. (and maybe tell us how to unlock it on all the chips we have NOW...heheheh)

Are you planning on getting one Doc?? Kepp us updated on this one if you do. I'd be curious to know how well the O/C myself...

Mr B

[UnseenMenace]

I personally think that the cost may be phrohibitive on this one..

Performa III 1 GHz
(Part # 90-3000-AA0)
$399.99 MSRP - The PerformaIII 1 GHz utilizes the latest next generation processor. This processor utilizes the new Intel SSE extensions as well as MMX instructions.

After Instant Rebate: $299.99

Full Price List Here (http://webstore.evergreennow.com/acatalog/Evergreen_WebStore_PerformaIII_Upgrades_7.html)

Admitedly they give you back a instant rebate, but It is limited to 1 per household and you do have the hastle of having to send off for it. I also think that the price of this CPU upgrade is to close to the cost of a new mobo and CPU which will provide you with the latest chipset technology and features, not to mention a much faster FSB, which is why I do not consider this will be a popular option.

[WillysNut]

Found a Slot1 600 on ebay for $40us. Seller said it didn't work with his mobo...no other details.... Anyone...anyone?!?

[Zuck Gou :)]

Be interesting to see how they unlocked em.

[UnseenMenace]

Just a curious question :-- If they are built on P3 technology how come the CPU's run on 66 or 100 mhz FSB.. did'nt the later P3's such as the Ghz have 133 mhz FSB ?

[Kingslayer]

What most Evergreen chips are aimed is running new CPU's on old boards, that don't support new CPU's. I would imagine that this is the same thing, It's a 1Gig chip designed to run on older 100Mhz FSB boards. 100x10, that's why it's unlocked.

[outhouse]

UnseenMenace (Jul 15, 2001 04:51 p.m.):
Just a curious question :-- If they are built on P3 technology how come the CPU's run on 66 or 100 mhz FSB.. did'nt the later P3's such as the Ghz have 133 mhz FSB ?

Actualy a few of the 1g p3's did have a 100 MHZ FSB but yes the majority did have 133 MHZ.

[vimal]

I was browsing the site, and checked out both the press release and the datasheet.

First off, according to the press release, the Spectra III is based off the Cyrix III (not a very good sign for even general use, let alone overclocking) Of course elsewhere in the site, they claim to be based off the PIII (Spectra IIIx) or Celeron II (Spectra) so I don't know what the deal is. Frankly, I believe that the Cyrix III is much more likely to be the processor used than an Intel processor (and I don't think Evergreen tech sat down, designed their own proc, and has a fab plant stamping these guys out)

The datasheet is actually more like an advertisement, and provides no useful info whatsoever. It does have a picture of a S370 processor on it, with a big bright intel logo at the top. The picture isn't very good (zooming doesn't help), but I suspect that it is a picture of a GenuineIntel processor, not the Spectra.

The big selling point about the unlocked multipliers is that it supports higher FSB - their example was if you wanted a cheap 600MHz in a new 100FSB system, you couldn't stick in a Celeron cause that would slow you down to 66FSB, but you could stick in a Spectra III 600 (66*9) and change it to 100*6 without running into problems.

-Vimal

Disclaimer: Haven't used these. Have seen them on shelves of Best Buy and CompUSA. (The behind-the-counter shelves, where you need a "trained computer specialist" to help you decide what you need to buy)

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

I agree that cost is the biggest issue,,,it would seem that each spectra design is of different manufacture..e.g. spectra is cyrix, spectraIIIx is PIII based, and the rest of the spectraIII's are celeron based...but if the die size is any indication, then, we are looking at mendocinos or similar.
The reason it can run at 66/100 is because of the unlocked multiplier.
Still, I thought it was interesting to post, I don't think I would buy one, unless it was used and cheap hehe

[Pinky]

Looks promising, but to drop 300+ on a cpu that may not go much higher than a overclcoked genuine Intel 1 Ghz is a chance I would be unwilling to take.

[Kingslayer]

Maybe were not getting the point.

If these are Intel CPU's that Evergreen puts out, are they unlocking them or are they buying them special from Intel. Do they know something about that multiplier that we don't? Are they working around it in one way or another?

That's what we need to find out. Not how much it costs. Let's verify that it is Intel based. Then let's find out what they do to unlock it.

[funnyperson1]

the probably just engineered a design using a pIII thats what amd did in the beggining, and its also what compaq did to IBM...but i personally wouldnt put down 200-300 dollars for an evergreen cpu..but then again if it is PIII based, why does it use 3dnow?

[dude]

If they have them at best buy I can get my friend to buy it at cost and return it when I'm done testing it. If you guys really want to know how good this alternative is.

[engjohn]

dude (Jul 16, 2001 04:23 p.m.):
If they have them at best buy I can get my friend to buy it at cost and return it when I'm done testing it. If you guys really want to know how good this alternative is.

Do it DUDE!!!

[deez]

doesn't actually sound like they have unlocked multipliers...sounds pretty similar to the neo s370 from powerleap with chips that can't be removed set at their original clock speeds to me since you can easily make any 100Mhz chip do 66Mhz

[vimal]

Okay, I looked through the site a little more closely, and picked up on a couple things:

First off, if you're gonna get a Spectra III, it must be 766MHz or higher. The 700MHZ and lower models are based "on high speed 128K cache MMX CPU's" (translation: Cyrix III) The press release is also dated back to the original Spectra III (550 and 600MHz) so it makes not mention of Intel procs.

According to them:
Spectra III 700, 600, 550 based off "high speed 128K cache MMX CPU's" (suspect Cyrix, but not sure)
Spectra III 766 based off Celeron II (66 MHz)
Spectra III 900, 850, 800 based off Celeron II (100MHz)
Spectra IIIx 850 based off PIII

Went to Best Buy to get a closer look at these procs - the ones in the stores are 600MHz and 700MHz, so they are NOT what you want to test.

[vimal]

More bad news: (I hate to bring bad news)
Compare the data sheets of all 4 processor sets (550-700, 766, 800-900, and 850x) - the only datasheet which boldy proclaims "Variable clock multipliers" is the datasheet for the 550-700 set. None of the other 3 mention it at all.

I am thinking company logic went along these lines: "We make upgrades for people who can't figure it out themselves. If it looks like a square with pins sticking out, we call it a Spectra III. If it looks like a rectangle with no pins, we call it a Performa. We don't want to confuse the buyer with hundreds of different processor choices."

So the first Spectra III had all these nice features (variable clock, etc) but then they changed the core processor for the Spectra III series and whatever summer intern they hired to update the web page for the Spectra III series didn't pick up on that little subtlety.

[Endeavor]

i concur with the statements about price
$285 for a 850? from a no name company nonetheless?

[Godfodda]

Well, you've all piqued my interest so I'm gonna buy one... just a 550, though. $49 at pcstop.com, so worst case is that my son's 400 Celeron system gets a 150MHz boost. :-)

BTW, pricewatch show those 850s at $179 if someone else (with more "expendable" cash) wants a toy to play with. :-D

Will update when it arrives.

[batboy]

Everyone I know of with past experience buying POS Evergreen products has regretted it.

[vimal]

Godfodda (Jul 18, 2001 12:23 a.m.):
Well, you've all piqued my interest so I'm gonna buy one... just a 550, though. $49 at pcstop.com, so worst case is that my son's 400 Celeron system gets a 150MHz boost. :-)


http://www.legionhardware.com/Reviews/Evergreen/evergreen_spectraiii600.php

Save your money and buy a Celeron 600 for less. Or if you really want a Cyrix, buy it as a Cyrix, not as a Spectra. (Should cost less, and will still have the unlocked multipliers)

Oh yeah, according to the review (and looking at the performance of my friend's laptop which has a Cyrix 400 processor that gets stomped all over by my PII-266) the Spectra 550 will probably be a downgrade for your son's PC.