When overclocking a PII CPU one of the major problems is cooling the cache and the backside of the CPU. Because the PII is entirely enclosed in a plastic casing, conventional cooling methods such as sandwich type coolers will not work. Also, the cache runs hot when overclocked and we have used different methods to get the cache in contact with the front plate to remove as much heat as we could to cool the chips to successfully overclock the PII.
A company named Xample Technologies contacted me and asked if I would like to review their “Xtreme Heat sink” for the PII processor. I was a little surprised that someone would come out with a product for a PII with all emphasis on PIII and Celeron PPGA. After using the “Xtreme Heat Sink” and seeing the results, I was convinced that this is definitely
A way to breathe some more Mhz out of the Millions of these processors still being used.
The Xtreme Heat Sink kit consists of a cache cooler plate, heatsink for the back of the CPU, 50mm x 10mm Ball Bearing fan with tach output, 2 screws to assemble the pieces of the heatsink, 2 screws to mount the fans to the backplate, adapter for the fan lead to tie in with the fan lead from the front heatsink, and thermal grease. You must supply your own heatsink for the front of the CPU.
I had a PII 333 SL2S5 lying around that would not quite make it at 500. It would do 500 @ 2.3 Volts but lock as soon as you tried any 3D games even with an Alpha P125 installed. I figured this would be a good candidate. I removed the plastic housing and the front plate from the PII. There is a good article on how to do this over at the HardOCP. I then installed the parts in the kit (see photo below) following the Instructions on the Xample Technologies Website. Then I mounted an Alpha P125 to the front of the CPU in the standard fashion.
Results and Conclusion:
I mounted the assembled unit in my Abit BE6. With the Xtreme Heat Sink and the Alpha installed I am now able to run this processor at 550 (5 x 110) at 2.2 volts! It will run 500 @ 2.1 where it previously would only do this at 2.3 volts and still lock up.
The Xtreme Heat Sink is definitely a way to get a little more life out of that PII you have lying around. This is the BEST cache cooling solution available for the PII. With a selling price of only $31.99, you just can’t beat it for getting more Mhz out of that PII processor. It is well designed and does its job well.
You can order the Xtreme Heat Sink online at the Xample Technologies website. They are also holding a drawing where a lucky winner will get one for free!
This review and comments are just my personal observations and
opinion. As with any products and services, please research throughly
before making any purchases. The reviewer and overclockers.com shall not
and will not be held liable for any damages cause by products reviewed in
this article.
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