An Overlooked Overclocking Option

The Willamette Celeron can be overclocked, too. — Ed

Here’s an overclocking possibility coming soon I bet you haven’t considerered (and in most cases, that’s probably a good idea).

The Celeron IV (aka Willamette-128).

The next Celeron is going to be the old Willy with half the cache memory vascetomized. 128K rather than 256K.

This is like breaking one of the legs of somebody using a stroller.

It’s another lousy processor, great marketing move by Intel. Going to be rough selling 1.2-1.3GHz Morgans to Joe Sixpack when he can get a 1.6GHz or better Intel processor for around the same price.

It’s pretty hard suggesting such a product when you can buy a 1.6GHz Northwood today for about $135, or a 1.2 Tualatin Celeron for $80.

Someday, though, you may have to cut $50 off the price of a computer for someone who demands Intel as he tries to rub the mouse on the monitor screen.

Or you may find yourself needing a system right away, but your dream processor isn’t quite out yet and you need a temporary cheap stand-in.

Should you find yourself in this situation, something you should keep in mind is that the late generation Willies (particularly the D0 stepping) didn’t do all that badly overclocking. 2-2.2GHz using moderate overclocking techniques looks at least possible.

Intel also recently announced a new stepping for a few Willies, which I suspect we’ll eventually see.

This isn’t for everybody, or most people. It’s not even a very good option.

But for a few in certain circumstances, it’s worth keeping in the back of your head.

Email Ed


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