1)Which Processor, 2)How Much RAM

[lazydawg]

Hi,
I have two questions for you all today:

1) I currently have a ABIT VA6 MB wih a Celeron 466@66. I just the other day realized I can set the memory clock to CPU+33, or 100MHZ. I haven't benchmarked either so I'm not sure if there is any performance increase.

If I can convince them to upgrade machines at work I might be able to get a free processor upgrade to a p2-400, or a p3-600. So obviously the p3 is the better choice, but I'd have to take what ever I can get.

1a) Is going from a Celeron 466@66 to a P2-400@100(?) worth the upgrade? Do P2's offer anything over a Celeron? I think a Celeron is based on the P3. The P2 would have a 100MHz FSB, but it seems that the MB lets me do this anyway.

1b) How much faster is a P3-600@133 than my Celeron? Would the difference be huge say in the 2x (100%) range, or only 20 or 30 percent faster? P3 has the bigger cache, and faster FSB....

Any links to sites with benchmarks?

Question 2: How much RAM is enough? I'm currently running Win98SE. I just order a Cruical 256MB upgrade which will bring me to 384 MB. Sounds like a lot but with prices falling I could get another 256 for 640MB total. I've heard that WIN98SE can't really see over 256MB, is this true? Even if I upgrade to 2000, or XP down the road is 640MB going to help me in any way?

Thanks
Lazydawg

[Brangwen]

Lazydawg:

I cannot answer with any degree of confidence the question regarding the CPU comparisons.

I can report that several months ago, and every once in a while, the question of adequate or ideal memory amount when running Win98se pops up. My recollection is it's 196 MB.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

PS: Try running some Searches on this topic in the SysOpt forums. Good luck.

[wyvrn]

I was under the impression that the memory ceiling was 512MB. Supposedly, Win98 can handle 2 GB worth of memory but I don't know of anyone who has tried it. Here is the article that explains (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/12.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=memory%20limit&rnk=5&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=W98) what happens when you get aboce 512MB and how to get around it.

[wyvrn]

As far as celeron vs. Pentium:

Celeron has 1/4 cache as comparable Pentium (in most cases, I am sure this is an exception somewhere), but it runs at chip speed. While the Pentium has more cache, it runs at half chip speed (correct me if I am wrong here pls.).

A lot of celerons can be overclocked simply by booting them at 100 FSB instead of 66. Some famous overclocker chips are the 300A running @ 450 and the 566 running @850. I would compare my old 300A@450 as about equal to a PII 400. I think the newer celerons lose their oc advantage, I am not sure the reason. I am sure someone would be able to tell you. AMD's Duron and thunderbird are the better oc chips right now. Some people have their Duron 600@1000.

[jeffpapier]

The P-III is based on Celeron cache design.
Full speed and 4 times faster then the P-II's half CPU speed cache. Any Celeron with cache is faster then the same speed P-II.

[ragtop]

1. The PII upgrade is not worth the trouble. The PIII 600 would be a pretty good upgrade, the difference you see would vary greatly depending on the other components in your system, and the applications you are running. If I had to put a number on it, I think about 30% would be about it. The other advantage is that the faster PIII would be better able to handle other upgrades like a more powerful video card etc.

2. As far as RAM, there is a point of diminishing return when you upgrade. Go from 64M to 128M and you will notice a huge difference. Go from 128M to 256M, and there will be a much smaller performance gain. Adding anything above 256M, I've never noticed any difference at all.