Faster CPU in older Dell desktop?

My sister-in-law has an aging Dell (Optiplex?) with a 600MHz PIII in
it. I have an 866MHz Coppermine from a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF. Might it
be possible to put the 866 in the Dell, or would something blow? Sis
would like to get a little more time out of this box, which is still
OK in spite of being loaded with MSN/Kodak/Mystery crapware.

thx,

tf

wrote:

> My sister-in-law has an aging Dell (Optiplex?) with a 600MHz PIII in
> it. I have an 866MHz Coppermine from a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF. Might it
> be possible to put the 866 in the Dell, or would something blow? Sis
> would like to get a little more time out of this box, which is still
> OK in spite of being loaded with MSN/Kodak/Mystery crapware.
>
> thx,
>
> tf
>

Probably not. There are 2 different types of Pentium III CPU's. The version
used in the old Dell is probably a PIII Katmai, based on a Vcore of 2.0 V
and using a FSB of 100 MHz. OTOH, the PIII Coppermine uses a lower Vcore of
approx. 1.7 V. In addition, the 866 MHz PIII Coppermine uses a 133 MHz FSB.
Even if the Dell is equipped with a voltage regulator that can run between
1.65V-1.7V, the PIII Coppermine will probably run no faster than 650 MHz
(100 MHz FSB times multiplier of 6.5). If the Dell motherboard allows it,
the only way to use the Coppermine CPU at its rated speed would also mean
replacing the RAM with a set that also runs at the 133 MHz FSB.

wrote:
> My sister-in-law has an aging Dell (Optiplex?) with a 600MHz PIII in
> it. I have an 866MHz Coppermine from a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF. Might it
> be possible to put the 866 in the Dell, or would something blow? Sis
> would like to get a little more time out of this box, which is still
> OK in spite of being loaded with MSN/Kodak/Mystery crapware.
>
> thx,
>
> tf

Is this a slot-1? If so, you might be able to use one of these:

http://www.powerleap.com/PL-iP3T.jsp

I see someone has this for sale on eBay with a Tualatin 1400 MHz CPU:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190157677936

The following adapter might also work and is usually cheaper than
Powerleap's PL-IP3/T

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230101522304

To add to what has already been mentioned - IMO you won't see any
appreciable difference between a 600 MHz and a 866 MHz processor for most
applications.

I "upgraded" an old T series Dell Dimension from 600 MHz to 1GHz and saw no
difference.

My take on it is, it isn't worth the trouble.

<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> My sister-in-law has an aging Dell (Optiplex?) with a 600MHz PIII in
> it. I have an 866MHz Coppermine from a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF. Might it
> be possible to put the 866 in the Dell, or would something blow? Sis
> would like to get a little more time out of this box, which is still
> OK in spite of being loaded with MSN/Kodak/Mystery crapware.
>
> thx,
>
> tf
>
>

On Sep 30, 5:51 pm, "mdp" <markdp...@spambegone.aol.com> wrote:
> thefro...@gmail.com wrote:
> > My sister-in-law has an aging Dell (Optiplex?) with a 600MHz PIII in
> > it. I have an 866MHz Coppermine from a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF. Might it
> > be possible to put the 866 in the Dell, or would something blow? Sis
> > would like to get a little more time out of this box, which is still
> > OK in spite of being loaded with MSN/Kodak/Mystery crapware.
>
> > thx,
>
> > tf
>
> Is this a slot-1? If so, you might be able to use one of these:
>
> http://www.powerleap.com/PL-iP3T.jsp
>
> I see someone has this for sale on eBay with a Tualatin 1400 MHz CPU:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190157677936
>
> The following adapter might also work and is usually cheaper than
> Powerleap's PL-IP3/T
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230101522304

Ghostrider and mdp,

Thanks to both of you. I just talked with sis and we're going to drop
her disk into the compaq. Much easier in light of the ucertain speed
benefits of a CPU swap..

thanks again,

tf