Pentium Iii Coppermine Slot 1

Anyone know if an Intel SE440BX-2 Slot 1 motherboard can take a Slot 1 Pentium III 1Ghz 100FSB CPU? I've checked the cpu support. So there should be at least one BIOS that won't complain about it. Tualatin is made for 1GHz, the coppermine is just struggling there. The only uncertainty that remains is the increased current draw from the 1GHz. Slot 1 Socket 370: コードネーム. 次世代Pentium IIIであるTualatinとCoppermineとの間にはシステムバスの電気的な互換性が無いため、ストップギャップを目的として双方に互換性のあるCoppermine-Tが開.


Introduction

The Pentium III Coppermine offers many benefits over its previous core (KATMAI). The Coppermine offers a 0.18-micron technology compared to the KATMAI core, which was distributed on the 0.25 process. This technique will allow the CPU to be distributed in a smaller size. Our Slot-1 sample was manufactured in the first week of 2000. Slot 1 was great for adaptability. Constructed a PC in 1999 using an Asus P2B motherboard and a Mendochino Celeron 466MHz Slot 1 version. I was able to upgrade twice: first to a Coppermine Pentium III 800MHz Socket 370 and after that to a Tualatin Celeron 1.3GHz socket 370. All it needed was a BIOS update and the appropriate slotket. Pentium iii coppermine slot 1 You step up to the craps table, toss down your money and ask for chips.If you are wanting some poker excitement then an internet cardroom will likely be what pentium iii coppermine slot 1 you are seeking for.Bingo Wednesdays Wednesdays 6pm. Feb 02, 2018  The Intel Pentium III-S 1.4 GHz CPU, also called the Tualatin, is the fastest Pentium III processor that you can buy. It costs more and is harder to find, so is it worth getting? We will compare. Pictured: Pentium III Coppermine as a Slot-1 version (Pentium III E or EB), front and back side. It wasn't until the next generation, called Coppermine, that the L2 cache would be re-integrated.

Intel's Pentium III is now available for about one year and has already been improved: Last fall Intel introduced the Coppermine core, which comes with 256 KBytes on-die and full-speed second level cache vs. Katmai's 512 KBytes of external half-speed L2 cache. This 'Advanced Transfer Cache' has been integrated into the CPU silicon chip (die), sporting a 256 Bit wide data connection to the processor core which marks another improvement over Katmai's 64-bit wide interface to the external L2 cache. While a Pentium III with Katmai-core was not able to compete against AMD's Athlon processor on a clock-by-clock basis, a Coppermine-PIII gained enough speed from the integrated cache to be pretty much on par with Athlon. The integration of Coppermine's L2-cache was of course only possible because this chip is manufactured in 0.18 µm process, which reduced the die-size of Katmai's core so that the L2-cache could fit onto the same die. Katmai is manufactured in .25 micron process.

Now that Pentium III didn't need external L2-cache modules anymore, Intel was able to supply a socket-version of PIII, which is nowadays called 'FCPGA' for 'Flip Chip Pin Grid Array'. Today Intel wants to move away from the larger and thus more expensive Slot1 version of Pentium III, but currently you can still get Pentium III with Coppermine core in both versions. Let's take a quick look at both different core versions, Katmai as well as Coppermine, of the Pentium III before moving over to the Coppermine-core only.

Katmai vs. Coppermine

The name Coppermine is a bit misleading, as copper-interconnects are not used in the manufacturing process of this chip. The following table will show you the most important facts about both cores:

Katmai (Pentium III)Coppermine (Pentium IIIE)
Clock Speeds at 100 MHz FSB450, 500, 550, 600 MHz550E, 600E, 650, 700, 750, 800, 850 MHz
Clock Speeds at 133 MHz FSB ('B')533B, 600B MHz533EB, 600EB, 667, 733, 800EB, 866, 1000 MHz
L2 Cache512 KByte256 KByte
L2 Cache Interface64 Bit256 Bit
L2 Clock SpeedHalf CPU speedFull CPU speed
L2 Associativity4-way set8-way set
CPU Voltage2.0V1.65V (1.7V at 1 GHz)

A Pentium IIIE makes use of the Coppermine core while a Pentium IIIB is specified for 133 MHz system bus speed. Thus a Pentium III that uses the Katmai core and is designed for 100 MHZ FSB won't have any letter behind the number, and A Coppermine-core running at 133 MHz FSB is called 'EB'. However, since all Pentium III processors that are faster than 600 MHz are automatically using Coppermine-cores, Intel does not add the 'E' to them. Was that confusing enough?

On the right you can see the two cache chips of the 'old' Pentium III.

Coppermine has the smallest die size of today's microprocessors, making a socket version possible again. The main reason for the socket rebirth is of course the price: the PCB for the cartridge (SECC2) version is not required any more, making the CPU a few bucks cheaper. Motherboards with a FCPGA socket are also cheaper to produce than Slot1-motherboard, thus reducing the systems costs even a bit more.

Katmai vs. Coppermine, Continued

Sooner or later the FCPGA-Socket370 is supposed to replace Slot-1 completely. Today, all Pentium III CPUs, which make use of the Coppermine core (see table above) except the Giga-Pentium are available as FCPGA as well as Slot1 versions. It is still rather difficult to get a fast Pentium IIIEB in Europe. Up to 700 MHz can be obtained quickly, but faster models are still in extremely short supply.

Please be aware of the fact that there are two different core-versions for the same clock speed, if you want a Pentium III 533, 550 or 600 MHz! Again, Pentium III with Katmai core won't have the 'E' in the name, Pentium III's designed for 133 MHz FSB have the 'B' in the name! As you could see in the table, Coppermine comes with several benefits:

  • Reduced core voltage leads to less power consumption, so Coppermine runs pretty cool. The 0.18µm process enables much smaller die sizes as with the 0.25µm Katmai, reducing production costs and providing higher quantities.
  • Coppermine's full speed L2 cache provides a considerable performance increase over Katmai of roughly 10%.
  • Optimized cache latency and increased cache associativity enable even better performance, also by using the 256 Bit wide L2 cache bus.
  • Coppermine is better overclockable. Katmai's cache chips won't bear more than approx. 300 MHz (600 MHz core speed), while most Coppermine cores should stand at least 650 MHz.

Conclusion: If you plan to get a new system, there's absolutely no reason for choosing a Pentium III with Katmai-core, unless it is considerably cheaper than a system with Coppermine-core at the same clock speed! Particularly special computer offers of many shops do include the old Katmai processor.

For the full comparison of Katmai vs. Coppermine, please read Intel's New Weapon - The Coppermine.

Can Katmai still be a better choice?

Regarding the features certainly not. But one issue has always been crucial: The voltage (Vcore). Almost all Slot-1 or Socket 370 motherboards bought in the last 12 months are able to supply down to 1.3V. If your motherboard is older than 12-18 months it's very likely that the voltage regulator is not able to supply the required 1.65V for Coppermine. That applies for almost all BX motherboards as well as others using VIA, ALi oder SiS chipsets. If you still want to upgrade your CPU while keeping your motherboard, you will have to get a Pentium III Katmai (600 MHz fastest). The photos above (and on the next page again) show both processors, so that it should be no problem to recognize them.

Slot-1 vs. Socket 370

There might be quite a few of you who want to upgrade to an even faster processor without exchanging motherboard or RAM. In theory, that's no problem, as most motherboard companies offer Slot-to-Socket converter boards. Most of them allow to select a voltage between 1.3 and 2.5V (sometimes even some more), but I've not come across one which would have its own voltage regulator. This option to alter the voltage may be great for overclocking, but so far it's certainly not suited for upgrades, as your motherboard still has to provide the voltage itself. This means that a motherboard that can't go down to 1.65 V would still not be the right host for Coppermine processors. I would love to see such a better featured adapter board, as this would make upgrades up to at least 800 MHz possible.

We already got some emails asking us for advice on what to buy: Slot-1 or Socket 370. Performance is not an issue here, as there are absolutely no differences between those two interfaces. Just think about the following:

On the one hand, a Slot-1 motherboard will be the best choice regarding flexibility. As I've just described, you can easily run a FCPGA Pentium III or Celeron by using an adapter card.

On the other hand, Intel wants Slot-1 to vanish. Socket 370 will be the future for Coppermine until Willamette will come with the completely new Socket423. Until then, you will be able to use Pentium III, Celeron or VIA's new Cyrix III processor without adapters.

If you'd ask me for my personal opinion, I would go for the cheaper solution. If you want to get a Celeron now (due to the fine price) and upgrade to a Pentium III later, a FCPGA board will be the better choice. In case you want to get the PIII right now, check the prices for both board and CPU.

The photo shows ABit's SlotKET III (AB_FC370), which enables you to use every Socket 370 CPU (Celeron or Pentium III) in a Slot-1 motherboard. Of course only if the board can provide the right voltage.

Here's the same converter with a Pentium III FCPGA CPU installed. Be careful with the CPU cooler: Most Pentium (Socket 7) or Celeron coolers cannot be used for FCPGA CPUs, as the Pentium III is not as high as a Pentium MMX. It's very important to make sure that the cooler has optimal contact to the CPU surface. This usually cannot be achieved with old coolers, as the pressure of the mounting mechanism may be too small.

I'd also like to add a warning. The flip-chip package of the FCPGA-processors means that you place the heat sink DIRECTLY on the silicon chip of the CPU. DON'T DAMAGE THIS CHIP!!! Tilting the heat sink on the flig-chip will eventually break or grind off the edges of the silicon chip. This will definitely DESTROY YOUR EXPENSIVE CPU!!! Heat sinks made for PPGA-Celerons will not only be unable to provide the right cooling, because they only touch the flip-chip at one edge of it, but they also carry the high risk that you could damage this edge and kill your CPU! The FCPGA-package is VERY SENSITIVE! Break off the edges or corners of the silicon chip or make scratches or cracks in it will destry it!!!

Pentium III or Athlon?

Athlon is currently facing one deficit: Its L2 cache memory. As with the Pentium III Katmai, AMD's Athlon makes use of 512 KByte 'external' cache memory, which is also situated on the Slot-A PCB. This L2 cache does not run at core-clock speed, it's either 1/2 , 2/5 or 1/3 of the core clock, thus providing worse scalability. This means that the performance increase provided by higher processor clock speeds decreases as the processor clock speeds get higher. Putting this into plain English means that an Athlon 700 provides a higher performance increase over an Athlon 600 than an Athlon 1000 provides over an Athlon 900.

From top to bottom: AMD Athlon, Intel Pentium III Coppermine, Intel Pentium III Katmai. Today, Athlon processors offer better performance for less money. Nevertheless many people do still believe in better performance, compatibility or reliability of Intel products. Actually both products are fully developed and absolutely reliable, thus absolutely even. In my opinion next generation Athlon CPUs will be good enough to win even more former Intel processor users with their superior performance and their attractive prices. However, AMD will have to sort out some platform problems first.

I won't restart the discussion whether to buy Athlon or Pentium III. Let me just give you two facts: Athlon processors up to 800 MHz are faster and usually cheaper than corresponding Pentium III CPUs. The delivery time of Athlon processors is shorter, as almost all CPUs (except the models above 850 MHz) can be shipped in quantities. Intel is still having a lot of trouble to saturate the demand of some processors, particularly 800 MHz and above.

Overclocking Coppermine

Classical overclocking by chosing a higher multiplier is not possible any more for years now. Let me give you a short explanation:

The processor speed (or core speed) is always generated by the system clock speed (or FSB: Front Side Bus), which today is 66, 100 or 133 MHz, multiplied with 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 etc. Today, multpliers of 4.0, 4.5, 5.0.. and up to 8.0 are widespread. Turning stone casino online slots. Example: A Pentium II 450 runs at 100 MHz FSB x4.5 (multiplier). The Pentium III 800 is available in two versions: The Pentium III 800E runs at 100 MHz x8.0, while the 800EB uses 133 MHz x6.0. A Celeron 500 uses 66 MHz FSB x7.5.

The easiest way to overclock a processor is running it at a higher clock speed than specified (by increasing the multiplier). This was still possible with the Pentium classic, Pentium MMX and most Pentium II processors. A few years ago however, Intel and AMD made this kind of overclocking impossible by locking the multiplier of each CPU. There are some tricks around that multiplier lock in case of Athlon processors, but nobody has found a viable solution to unlock Intel processors yet.

Athlon processors can be overclocked by changing the multiplier ('all you need' is to open the processor cartridge and plug-on an Athlon overclocking board), Intel CPUs can merely be overclocked by rising the bus speed. As you may know from The 150 MHz Project, Part 1 and The 150 MHz Project, Part 2, this can become quite a touchy affair. When overclocking a processor by clocking it higher, the only component which had to endure the higher clock speed was the CPU itself. Rising the system bus speed means accelerating North Bridge, PCI, AGP, main memory and other devices as well, thus increasing the failure rate considerably.

Running a 100 MHz CPU at 133 MHz FSB

Coppermine is available in 100 MHz FSB versions between 600 and 850 MHz. Many boards allow to run the CPU at 133 MHz FSB, which results in a much higher core speed:

Official Speed
at 100 MHz
MultiplierSpeed
at 133 MHz FSB
550 MHz5.5733 MHz
600 MHz6.0800 MHz
650 MHz6.5866 MHz 1
700 MHz7.0933 MHz 1
750 MHz7.51000 MHz ²
800 MHz8.01066 MHz ²
850 MHz8.51133 MHz ²

1 This setting is very likely to fail, but with some luck and excellent cooling it may work
² This setting will most likely not work reliably at all.

Of course you may do the same with Katmai CPUs, but the chance of success is indeed very small: A Pentium III 450 would have to bear 600 MHz, which should be possible with proper cooling (particularly the L2 cache chips will run far beyond their specs). I don't think that the 500 MHz model will run at the 667 MHz (clocked with 133 MHz FSB). Don't think about trying this with the 550 and 600 MHz type of Katmai - your system won't even start up.

Intel 440BX vs. i820/i840 vs. VIA 694X

Both the i820/i840 chipsets as well as the VIA Apollo Pro 133A (VT82C694X) are officially designed for 133 MHz operation. This means that they feature all necessary AGP and PCI dividers to derive the required 66 MHz AGP and 33 MHz PCI speed from the system bus speed. It's a bit more touchy with BX motherboards. BX does only know the AGP dividers 1/1 and 2/3 (for 66 and 100 MHz FSB), but the PCI dividers 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4, while the latter is basically meant for 133 MHz FSB (using 1/4 PCI clock will have the PCI running at 33 MHz). Nevertheless, the AGP will run at 2/3 FSB speed (89 MHz in case of 133 MHz FSB), which some graphics cards won't accept.

Older BX motherboards (> 12 months) are usually not suited for 133 MHz at all, because the PCI divider 1/4 is missing since it never meant to be used. That's why the PCI-bus would run at 44 MHz, which is obviously far too much for most devices.

If you want to run a 133 MHz Coppermine on a BX motherboard, make sure the following:

  • The AGP graphics card will have to be able to run at 89 MHz AGP clock speed. Take a look at: Exploration into Overclocked AGP Graphics.
  • Make sure you are using brand PC133 SDRAM
  • Your motherboard will have to support PCI divider 1/4 to run it at 33 MHz. Else you will get trouble with most PCI cards!

150 MHz FSB

The only way to speed up a 133 MHz processor is rising the system clock some more. Most motherboards offer 140, 142, 145, 150 and sometimes even 155 + 160 MHz bus speed. While most boards still run stable at 150 MHz, 155 MHz or more seem to be a problem for the chipset.

At this higher FSB speed, all components are being overclocked: CPU, chipset, controllers, graphics card and memory. If only one component fails, the system won't run stable any more. The following table will show you your options:

Multiplier133 MHz FSB150 MHz FSB
Pentium III 533/1334.0-600 MHz
Pentium III 550/1005.5733 MHz825 MHz 1
Pentium III 600/1006.0800 MHz900 MHz 1
Pentium III 600/1334.5-675 MHz
Pentium III 650/1006.5866 MHz975 MHz 1
Pentium III 667/1335.0-750 MHz
Pentium III 733/1335.5-825 MHz 1
Pentium III 800/1336.0-900 MHz 1

1 This setting might fail

Only the slower Coppermine CPUs for 100 MHz FSB can be recommended for overclocking, as the faster versions come with too high multipliers. The 650 MHz model would have to do 866 MHz at 133 MHz FSB or 975 MHz in case of 150 MHz FSB, which both is usually too much. As always, only with some luck you may get a CPU which tolerates this speed.

For detailed information, please check The 150 MHz Project, Part 1 and The 150 MHz Project, Part 2.

Which is the best Coppermine for overclockers?

First of all I want to make clear that this kind of advice is meant for users who really know what they are doing: Overclockers and performance freaks. Our recommendations are based on experiences which we collected during endless tests and benchmark runs. I think you will understand that we neither can guarantee that the suggested clock settings will always work, nor do we take any responsibility for data losses, damaged hardware or other problems you may face. Overclocking is always an adventure, which is why some guys just do it without even needing the higher performance.

Taking a look at the table on the last page makes the decision quite easy. Most Coppermines should be able to do about 700 MHz without difficulties. If you're out for big performance at a little price, go for the Pentium III models running 133 MHz and medium clock speeds: 533, 600 and 667 MHz. Clocking them at 150 MHz should always be possible, as the core speed does not rise that much. The effect of the higher bus speed is much better performance, particularly for games or graphic applications. Check the benchmarks later on in this article.

How to force any 100 MHz CPU to run at 133 MHz

Do you still remember the 'B21' trick? Two years ago, Tom revealed that running a 66 MHz Slot-1 CPU at 100 MHz FSB is no problem: All you have to do is to cover pin B21. This way you had the motherboard believe that a 100 MHz was present.

Obviously there is a very similar trick to get every 100 MHz CPU running at 133 MHz, even if the motherboard does detect the FSB speed automatically. The pin is called 'A14' this time. Please take a look at the following picture:

I took some transparent tape, which was not the best decision just because you cannot see it on this photo any more. It doesn't matter which material you're going to use, as long as it's isolating and prevents A14 to get contact to the slot. Make sure that you only cover A14, nothing more, nothing less.

Please remember that it doesn't make sense covering A14 on CPUs which do already run at 650 MHz or more (100 MHz FSB), as the resulting clock speed would be too high: Most Coppermine cores acutally can't do much more than 800 MHz. Please take a look at the table in the beginning of this article for the complete clock speed listing.

Test Setup

Test System
CPUIntel Pentium III
MotherboardABit BE6-II, Intel 440BX chipset
Asus P3VX, VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset
RAM128 MB PC133 SDRAM, 7ns (Crucial/Micron or Wichmann Workx) CL2
Hard DiskSeagate Barracuda ATA ST320430A
20 Gbytes, 7200 rpm
Graphics CardAsus V6600, nVIDIA GeForce 256
32 MByte SDRAM
nVIDIA Drivers 5.08 for Windows 98
Operating SystemWindows 98 SE 4.10.2222 A
Benchmarks and Setup
Office Applications BenchmarkBAPCo SYSmark2000
OpenGL Game BenchmarkQuake III Arena
Retail Version
command line = +set cd_nocd 1 +set s_initsound 0
Graphics detail set to 'Normal', 640x480x16
Benchmark using 'Q3DEMO1'
Direct3D Game BenchmarkExpendable
Downloadable Demo Version
command line = -timedemo
640x480x16
Screen Resolution1024x768x85, 16 Bit
DirectX Version7.0

The setup was pretty much the same as when we did the benchmarks for The 150 MHz Project, Part 1.

SYSmark 2000, Windows 98 SE

The Giga-Pentium is clearly the fastest Intel CPU für standard Windows applications, followed by two configurations running at 150 MHz FSB. Those applications are certainly no reason to get a high end computer.

Expendable Timedemo

Expendable is more bandwidth-sensitive than the business and internet applications which are run during the SYSmark benchmark. The best prove is a Pentium III 975/150 being faster than the Giga-Pentium. A Pentium III 900/150 does almost achieve the same performance, but with 10% less core clock speed.

Quake III Arena

Also Quake III shows a similar picture. The difference is that the system bus speed is even more important here.

Coppermine Price/Performance Index

Some of you may be a bit confused due to the large amount of benchmark numbers. I collected the actual Pentium III Coppermine prices and made another chart, which will show you which CPU provides best performance for your money.

As you know, fast CPUs are always quite expensive. There's only one reason to buy a super-expensive and super-fast CPU: You need highest performance to earn money. Few high end users may also always get the fastest components, but I suggest most of us just don't have enough money to obtain a new CPU every few months.

Originally I wanted to use all three results: SYSmark, Expendable and Quake III Arena. As Quake III is one of the most demanding 3D games, I decided to base the processor index on it. I got my results as following:

Quake III Benchmark result on the BX motherboard (as seen in the chart one page before) / CPU price (I took the avergage CPU price from pricewatch.com). To get better results, I multiplied the result with 100.

Pentium Iii Coppermine Slot 1 7

Better results indicate better performance for the money you will have to spend. A Pentium III 600/133 scores 122 fps in Quake III, while its price is about $220. 122/220=0.55. Multiplied with 100 results in a speed index of 55. The Pentium III 800EB is almost three times more expensive ($620), while the resulting performance is only some 13% better. 137/620=0.22. So the Pentium III 800/133 scores 22 points, which of course is much worse. Loser is the Giga-Pentium, as hardly anybody can afford it today.

All overclocked CPUs are marked yellow, while all standard CPU charts are marked red. By overclocking a CPU from 133 to 150 MHz FSB, you can increase the price/performance relalation considerably.

Conclusion

Despite all current shortages: Intel's Pentium III is still the most popular processor. Meanwhile, AMD's Athlon is steadily stealing little peaces of the gigantic cake. With the introduction of the Thunderbird and Spitfire cores, I expect Pentium III prices to drop considerably.

Pentium Iii Coppermine Slot 1

If you are out for a Pentium III processor: It's very easy to spend a lot of money now. Considering your real demands are more important than ever. In my eyes, the 100 MHz models are really old-fashioned today, as they cannot hold up to their 133 MHz brothers. Most mainboards using the VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset can be configured very flexible regarding the bus speed issue. A 133 MHz CPU using 100 MHz SDRAM is no problem. You can also run a 100 MHz FSB processor while using PC133 memory.

Overclockers should go for the Pentium III models 500E, 533E, 550E, 600E, 600EB, 667EB or 733EB. The higher the clock speed, the bigger the risk that overclocking won't work properly. As long as Intel is having difficulties supplying enough high speed processors, I wouldn't expect too much more clock speed headroom from most CPUs (particularly the mid-range models 733 and 800 MHz).

Pentium Iii Coppermine Slot 100

The Pentium III 933 will be released soon. Hopefully Intel will be able to supply their processors in quantities this time.