Overclocking the FC-PGA Coppermine: Part 2

Conclusion

In the first article we investigated just a small portion of the overclocking potential of Intel's FC-PGA Pentium III 500E/550E based on the 0.18-micron Coppermine core. Now, armed with a true 133MHz FSB chipset, we are beginning to see exactly how far these things can be realistically pushed.

Mind you that our 550MHz to 825MHz overclock wasn't accomplished with supercooling, water cooling, or using an insane amount of fans, we didn't even do so much as use an "overclocker's" heatsink, instead we just stuck to the retail heatsink/fan from Intel (which isn't a bad combo at all) and were blessed with some very impressive results.

As with all overclocking attempts, you are risking the life of your CPU as well as sacrificing stability for the benefit of the increased speed at no added cost. The degree that these two downsides are felt depends entirely on your situation in particular and could vary from severe to virtually nonexistent, as was the case in our tests. It's a disclaimer that we must remind everyone of, but honestly speaking, the FC-PGA 500E/550E are two very impressive processors from an overclocker's standpoint and should have no problem reaching speeds between 700 - 800MHz. But what about the future of FC-PGA Pentium IIIs?

The next FC-PGA part due out will probably be a 600MHz part which, unfortunately, won't boast much higher of an overclocking potential than the 500E/550Es that we've been playing around with. The 6.0x multiplier is still low enough that a 6.0 x 133MHz setting would result in a reasonable 800MHz overclock, but it's just a little too high to be used with something like the 150MHz FSB, at least with current yields on the 0.18-micron process.

One thing we'd like to see is the 160MHz FSB setting implemented on some Apollo Pro 133A boards, when combined with the 5.0x multiplier of the 500E the setting could make an 800MHz overclock (160MHz x 5.0) a reality for 500E owners. As the yields on Intel's 0.18-micron process continue to improve, we can expect to find the new Pentium IIIs making it to even higher levels, but it is highly unlikely that the same 50% overclocking potential (i.e. 550E to 825MHz) will be seen for at least a little while longer.

Keep your eyes open for boards emerging with the Apollo Pro 133A chipset, we'll be taking a look at a few options in the near future and we will make it a point to continue the coverage as more 133A boards are released.