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HELP!! upgrading old slow CPU..

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APTIVA

New Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2004
I have an old IBM aptiva 2176 c23, it has the pentium 120 mhz CPU in it, t is multiplier locked but i did get it to 133 mhz by changing the bus speed to 66, i want to put a bigger CPU in it, i know its an old slow machine but i like playing with it, i know for a fact that the pentium 200 mhz mmx overdrive is a drop in install, but i really want to get it to at least 233 mhz so i can use windows XP, the system does not have a voltage switch, i did a search on some computer website for a compatibe upgrade CPU for this machine and it came back with the evergreen spectra 400 mhz, that would be cool to get it to 400 mhz, but would that work without changing the voltage? anyone know of any other CPU's that will drop right in without changing the voltage on this machine?
thanks
 
if your goal is to run XP, i'm sure that whatever CPU uprgrade you do won't be sufficient. even if it is a 400mhz'er. XP will gobble up all the ram you have and beg for more.

i would think even a 400mhz cpu and 128mb ram would be painfully slow in XP.
 
If he's still playing with a 120mhz cpu, painfully slow doesn't scare him. ;)

Sorry I don't know anything about old Intel systems, but I think it sounds like a cool thing to play around with. Wish I had the time. :)

Welcome to the forums!
 
i was afraid of that, i still want to upgrade the CPU though, as i said, i found the evergreen spectra 400, the intel mmx overdrive 200, and also just found this..
http://161.58.155.13/servlet/SystemResults
would this or the evrgreen be better and would they work without the voltage change? seems like they would since they are recommended for this machine.
 
IMOG said:
If he's still playing with a 120mhz cpu, painfully slow doesn't scare him. ;)

i bet windows 3.x on a 120mhz cpu would feel faster than XP on a 233.

i have no clue what a evergreen spectra is. that link doesn't work.
 
It's the lack of RAM that will kill you. Win98SE is probably the best you can hope for with typical amounts of RAM used in those antiques. If you are positive a MMX CPU will work (they are split voltage and usually you have to move a voltage jumper), then an AMD K6 will work too (like 233, 266, or 300). The AMD K6-2 goes higher, but I'm not sure that will work... might need a super socket 7 mobo for those. As for Intel, the 233 MMX is the fastest socket 7 CPU available. Those Evergreen pieces of junk are a type of overdrive chip that are pretty crappy. Trust me, I had one once.
 
I have a p2 233 processor and motherboard I will give to you if you want it all you have to do is pay shipping :D :eek:
 
APTIVA said:
I have an old IBM aptiva 2176 c23, it has the pentium 120 mhz CPU in it, t is multiplier locked but i did get it to 133 mhz by changing the bus speed to 66, i want to put a bigger CPU in it, i know its an old slow machine but i like playing with it, i know for a fact that the pentium 200 mhz mmx overdrive is a drop in install, but i really want to get it to at least 233 mhz so i can use windows XP, the system does not have a voltage switch, i did a search on some computer website for a compatibe upgrade CPU for this machine and it came back with the evergreen spectra 400 mhz, that would be cool to get it to 400 mhz, but would that work without changing the voltage? anyone know of any other CPU's that will drop right in without changing the voltage on this machine?
thanks

I worked on a hunk of junk like that once, combo modem sound card,,,(shivers)

best way to speed it up would be to shoot it out of a cannon....

dont waste any time or money on that please..
 
i have a p3 400mhz Cpu with 64mb ram and it runs xp pro fine, after initial start up that takes about 2mins it runs fine. with no conflict with other programs. So the ram factor will be plenty at 128mb.
 
batboy said:
The AMD K6-2 goes higher, but I'm not sure that will work... might need a super socket 7 mobo for those.
If a MMX CPU will work I'm pretty sure the K6-2 will work too (I'm running a K6-2 300 @ 291MHz (3.5 x 83Mhz) on a Socket 7 MOBO), but the multiplier and FSB options may be limited on his MOBO, as a lot of them maxed out at 4.5 x 66 or 75, however a lot of MOBO's also had 'hidden' (unlisted) jumper settings.

theELVISCERATOR said:
dont waste any time or money on that please..
Why not? I think it really depends on what he wants to do.
I've recently bought a lot of old stuff just to play some old games (Mostly DOS games), besides that, I enjoy playing with old crap :attn:
 
KILLorBE said:
If a MMX CPU will work I'm pretty sure the K6-2 will work too (I'm running a K6-2 300 @ 291MHz (3.5 x 83Mhz) on a Socket 7 MOBO), but the multiplier and FSB options may be limited on his MOBO, as a lot of them maxed out at 4.5 x 66 or 75, however a lot of MOBO's also had 'hidden' (unlisted) jumper settings.


Why not? I think it really depends on what he wants to do.
I've recently bought a lot of old stuff just to play some old games (Mostly DOS games), besides that, I enjoy playing with old crap :attn:


just what i would tell a customer who had one and had issues with it.
just a money pit with no payout
 
The Evergreen CPU in question will work in this board because it has an added voltage regulator that will allow the split voltage K6-2 to work in the non split voltage motherboard. That is the only thing special about their version of the K6-2, the 6x multiplier is standard in all K6-2's from 400 MHz on.

If you can get one of these cheaply enough, it would be an ok way to go. But you shouldn't pay more than $20.00 shipped.

Is your case a desktop (pizza box) or an AT tower? If you have an AT tower, you could easily find a Socket 7 AT motherboard that has split voltage, and would support the K6-2 CPU's. See this thread, http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=112907 .

If you have a desktop case, and can't find the Evergreen CPU cheap enough, I would check out garage sales and thrift stores. No offense, but people are regularly throwing out computers much faster than what you are starting with because of something simple like a dead harddrive. A little scrounging on your part could result in a much better performance increase for your time and money.
 
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