amd k6-2 400 MHz or pentium 233 MHz w/ 512k cache?

okay, i have a question... which one of these little setups do you think would be better...

i have an amd k6-2 @ 400 MHz that has no cache and then i have a pentium 233 MHz w/512 external cache that i can use. the computer is running really slow with the amd k6-2 and i have a p2 233 MHz w/512 cache laptop that smokes the k6-2. just curious because i disassembled a computer yesterday for the at power supply on my girlfriend's parent's computer... i know that i probably should just try it, but i figured that i would ask to see if anybody might have an idea...

*edit: this system is a socket 7 and the k6-2 is specially made by evergreen technologies to work in my socket 7 mobo...*

The only 233 Pentium with any L2 cache in a socket configuration that I know of is the Pentium Pro, which are Socket 8, not Socket 7 unfortunately.
If it were Socket 7, it might just be the better choice, especially if it were overclocked some.
You might be able to run a K6-2+ in that motherboard though. What make and model is it?

i have the k6-2 in it currently. it can't tell you anything about it because it's a modified amd k6-2 to work in a socket 7... it needs extra voltage and such so it has a load of crap on it

i suppose i will just have to run some mathematical benchmarks on each to see which is faster...

THe Evergreen K6-2's were just a standard K6-2 with a voltage regulator between the socket and the CPU, for use on older boards without split voltage, or where the core voltage settings were too high for the K6-2. I've gotten the impression that quite a few were used on motherboards that could unofficially have supported the K6-2 without the use of the voltage regulator. Their advertising implied that the 6X multiplier was something special, but all K6-2's have that feature from the 400 MHz on.
I have an old piece of crap PC Chips M538 that runs a k6-2 at 450. Officially, it doesn't support anything beyond a 233. The core voltage goes down to 2.5, a little high, the chip is rated for 2.2, but it isn't a problem. Using the 6X multiplier, and an unofficial busspeed of 75 MHz, it runs the 450 quite nicely. It is folding (slowly, but surely) for team 32.
The only Socket 7 CPU's made that had on die L2 memory cache are the K6-3, and the K6-2+ and the K6-3+.
If that board could support a standard K6-3, that would give a noticeable performance boost. But you'd probably have to pay more for the chip than it would be worth to you.

thanks for the info on the cache of the chips... i bought that amd k6-2 a good while back when i didn't know jack about hardware except that i could install it my parents computer is just ridiculously sluggish and my dad is wanting me to stretch it's life even more than it should be stretched

A K6-2 400 isn't that bad. Boosting the RAM to 256, and a newer harddrive might improve the speed more than any possible CPU upgrade could.
Though limited by the ATA33 controller the motherboard has, newer harddrives are still much faster than the older 2 to 8 gigabyte drive it probably now has.

You might investigate the possibility that the FSB can be boosted to 75 or even 83 MHz. This would allow you to OC that K6-2 a little. Free performance improvements are the best kind.

As for a newer drive, the BIOS may not support the size of drive you can pick up on sale at Best Buy these days. Check with the manufacturer first, the last BIOS available for Socket 7 boards usually support at least 32 gig drives. If not you can check here, http://wims.host.sk/

Or here, http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/k6plus.htm

well there really isn't a possibility of overclocking because my jumpers on my motherboard are maxed out @ 66 MHz as well as the multiplier. then there is an onboard jumper for the k6-2 to reach the 400 MHz. that is also set as high as it can go i am going to give my dad a new hard drive (60 gb western digital to replace a 15 GB western digital which is really loud)... maybe that will help... i might have to invest in a new pci ata card to replace the onboard... oh well...

i am not even sure if that motherboard on it (it's a compaq presario 7212) can support the pentium 233 because i believe it has mmx and officially it will only support a pentium 166 non-mmx according to the spec sheet...

i guess there is only 1 way and that's the try it

i'll have to do it later today cause i just fixed the computer (not really, my dad just thought it was broken all week ) but everybody wants to check their e-mail and stuff...

Did a little checking, that is an oldie. That is exactly the sort of computer the Evergreen is meant for, so you made the right choice there.
A newer drive will probably last them until it is time to chuck the whole thing.

People got some really old systems here. Good Luck.

overclocker23 said:

People got some really old systems here. Good Luck.

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hehe and think that about this time last year, i was still using that machine as my primary machine *yikes!* then i finally had enough money saved up to get myself a system and the rest is history... well, that thing still works for my dad (most of the time) to check e-mail and slowly browse the web it's sad that the computer chokes the crap out of the cable modem

From my experience, the K6-2 400 will be faster in everything except 3D.

Captain Slug said:

From my experience, the K6-2 400 will be faster in everything except 3D.

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ah well that'll work for my parents i don't think they have anything installed on the whole computer that can handle 3d plus the video card is like an 8 MB matrox mystique

There are a few different reasons the P-2 233 laptop you're using is faster.
It probably has a better chipset, for better memory management.
It probably has more (and better, SDRAM, rather than EDO or worse, Fastpage RAM) memory.
And the L-2 cache is located on the CPU rather than on the motherboard like it is on the K6-2, and the P-233 (P55). This means the L-2 memory cache is the same speed as the CPU, rather than the motherboards busspeed.
When I first read this, I thought you'd picked up a Pentium Pro somewhere, and thought it would work because they look like a Socket 7 CPU.
The P55 would need something similar to the Evergreens external voltage regulator, as it uses 2.8-2.9 core voltage.
And on top of everything else, you'd only be able to run it at 133, since I'm sure the clock multiplier on that board tops out at two, maybe 2.5. The K6-2 reads the two multiplier as 6, which is why it can run at 400 on that board.