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Upgrade Processors and Intel Overdrive Processors

PentiumIIOverdrive

Why Upgrade CPU's Exist?

What is in an Upgrade CPU?

Upgrades of Today

The Future of Upgrade CPU's

Upgrade Processor ID Guide

The Quest for Speed

Why Do Upgrade Proccesors exist:
Really the answer is quite simple, if you look back in time a bit. In the early 90's when computer technology just started to grow at a rate where it was impossible to keep up with things were much more expensive. A Motherboard would set you back $200-$300 and a CPU about the same. Intel invariable introduced new form factors (sockets) leaving people with the old style to have no option but to replace that costly motherboard they had JUST bought. Intel quickly saw the need for a stop gap solution and introduced the 'Overdrive' processor family. Overdrives would plug in to an old style socket and deliver a level of performance close to that of the newest thing on the block.

This in itself was not a new concept, Cyrix had been making 486 type CPU's that worked in 386 motherboards for sometime. Other companies eventually joined the foray such as Kingston, PNY, Gainbury etc. Chip names such as 'Turbochip,' 'Maximizer,' and 'Powerleap'reflected the nature of the chip.

Intel even made upgrade kits for the 286.

What is in an upgrade CPU?
Intel's Overdrive series was based on a standard CPU, with additional voltage regulators, for example, a 3.3V 486 CPU would be built with regulators to work on the old style 5 Volt socket. Intels chips also included a heatsink, and later on a fan that was powered from the chip itself. This prevented the user from having to deal with power plugs for the fan, a simple yet very helpful feature.

Other companies worked in much the same way, though they rarely used Intel CPU's. One of the most common upgrade CPUs for the 486 was the AMD DX5-133 (aka PR75SSA among other names) which really was just an enhanced high speed 486. These were often built in a QFP package and soldered to a socket adapter with the needed multiplier and voltage regulator circuits. Other chips used the very powerful and capable Cyrix 5x86 CPU which was in reality a stripped 6x86 (Pentium class CPU). Since these CPUs ran at higher then normal voltages, and used extensive power regulators, they almost always had fans, some ran off the adapter its self, while others used various plugs to tap into drive connectors. IntelOverdriveSocket

The introduction of the Pentium in Socket 5/7 systems made another market in upgrading Socket 4 Pentiums (though short lived). One of the biggest booms in upgrade processors came when Intel switched from Socket 5/7 to the Slot 1 connector. Intel made Overdrive processors up to 200MHz MMX for the old platform but nothing more. Super 7 motherboards allowed people to use up to 550MHz CPUs from AMD and 350MHz ones from Cyrix. However, people with older Socket 5/7 motherboards that didn't support these new chips (mostly boards that didnt support the split core/IO voltages required by new chips) were stuck at a max of 200MHz with Intels chips.

The upgrade CPU market jumped in with both feet, offering dozens of different ways people could upgrade. The majority were based on the Winchip series of processors (up to 300MHz) or the AMD K6-2 line of CPU's. Again, it was only a matter of creating the right voltages and multipliers for these CPU's.

Upgrades of Today:
Today few people still use Socket 7 systems. There are still a large amount of people who use Slot 1 systems. Upgrades to these systems are fairly straightforward. Slot 1 and the Socket 370 that replaced it are not very different electrically (the signals are the same, its just the physical packageing). The Slocket was born to remedy this, a Slocket, as its name suggests is a Socket on a PCB that fits in a Slot 1, allowing the use of many standard Socket 370 CPU's in Slot 1 boards. Several Upgrade Processor companies offer bundles that have the Slocket, a CPU (usually a VIA C3 or Celeron) and a fan. Most of these are rather simple, the voltages are not very different, nor are power requirements. The biggest thing is multipliers, most older boards only support up to a 6 or 7 multiplier, so the Slockets have circuitry that generates higher ones.

With the introduction of the P4 and even more different sockets CPU Upgrade companies have started to offer just adapters, such as the PowerLeap adapter that will allow you to use a Socket 478 CPU in a older socket 423 system.

The Future:
CPU power requirements are getting to be very large and hard to deal with. This will make the upgrade business a very tough one to work with. It is hard to make an adpater that can handle over 60Amps and still leave room for the immense cooling of today's CPU's. It is very likely that this will be the end of the Upgrade Processor Industry. Already there are only a few companies left.


Upgrade Processors:

Intel 486 Overdrive Intel Pentium Overdrive Intel Pentium II Overdrive
Kingston Technologies Evergreen Technologies PNY Technology
PowerLeap Products Upgradeware Technology Gainbery Computer Products

 

Intel 486 Overdrive Processors

Intel

Intel made three types of Overdrive CPU's for the 486 platform:

486 ODPR Overdrive

The Orignal 486 Overdrive was meant to upgrade motherboards with the original Socket. It is a 5V compliant device with speeds of up to 100MHz.
It requires replacement of the original CPU.

486 ODP Overdrive

The second 486 was the ODP. It was meant for later motherboards with the 169 pin socket. Some lowcost motherboards had a 486 SX soldered onto the board but still provided an 'Overdrive Socket' that these chips plugged into. The extra pin was used to disable the original CPU

486 POD Overdrive

The last of the Intel 486 Overdrives was the PODP. It was basically a Pentium in a 486 package. Its performance was decent but Intel never allowed it to be made in speeds that could compete with the actual pentiums they were selling.

Sockets 486 - 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 168
Speeds 50-100
Fan? No
Core 486DX

Examples
Intel 486 Overdrive
Intel ODPR486DX-25**
Intel ODPR486DX-33**
Intel ODPRDX-33 V3.0**
Intel DX2ODPR66 V3.0
Intel DX2ODPR66 V4.0
Intel DX4ODPR75 V1.0
Intel DX4ODPR75 V1.1
Intel DX4ODPR100 V1.0
Intel DX4ODPR100 V1.1
Intel DX4ODPR V1.1
Intel SXODPR50

Sockets 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 169
Speeds 40-100
Fan? No
Core 486DX

Examples:
Intel 486 Overdrive
Intel ODP486SX-20**
Intel ODP486SX-25**
Intel ODP486SX-25 V3.0**
Intel ODP486SX-33 V3.0**
Intel SX2ODP50 V1.0
Intel ODP486DX-33
Intel DX2ODP50 V4.0
Intel DX2ODP66 V3.0
Intel DX2ODP66 V4.0
Intel DX4ODP75 V1.0
Intel DX4ODP75 V1.1
Intel DX4ODP100 V1.1
Sockets 2 - 3
Pins 237
Speeds 63 & 83
Fan Integrated
Core P54 - Pentium

**These Overdrives are internally clock doubled. For example, the ODP486SX-20 runs at 40MHz


Intel Pentium Overdrive Processors

Intel

Intel made three types of upgrade processors for the Pentium line as well.

Intel PODP5V Overdrive

The Original Pentiums were avalable in a Socket 4 package at a speed of 60 or 66MHz. This overdrive would take those platforms to a speed of up to 133MHz.
The Socket 4 platform was shortlived

Intel PODP3V Overdrive

The 3Volt Overdrives were meant to upgrade every Pentium P54C in the Socket 5/7 Package. They did not require split voltage and were available in a wide range of speeds. The speeds were rather arbitrary on Intel's part as depending on which CPU was replaced, the Overdrive would work at several different speed.

Intel PODPMT Overdrive

The PODPMT is identical to the 3 Volt Overdrive but adds full MMX support and 32k of L1 Cache (the original had only 16k)

Sockets 4
Pins 273
Speeds 120-133
Fan? Integrated
Core P54C - Pentium

Examples:
Intel Pentium Overdrive
Intel PODP5V133 V1.0
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speeds 125-200
Fan? Integrated
Core P54C - Pentium

Examples
Intel Pentium Overdrive
Intel PODP3V125 V1.0
Intel PODP3V133
Intel PODP3V150 V1.0
Intel PODP3V166 V1.0
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speeds 150-200
Fan? Integrated
Core P55C - Pentium MMX

Examples:
Intel Pentium Overdrive
Intel PODPMT50X125^^
Intel PODPMT60X150 V1.0
Intel PODPMT66X166
Intel PODPMT60X180 V2.0
Intel PODPMT66X200 V2.1

^^There are references to this chip in Intel datasheets, though I have never seen one.



Intel Pentium II Overdrive Processor

Intel

Intel PODP Pentium II Overdrive

The Pentium II Overdrive is the last Overdrive Intel made. It can upgrade a standard Pentium Pro 150-200 to the performance of a Pentium II 300-333. The Pentium II is nothing more then a Pentium Pro with MMX and better 16 bit code execution so this Overdrive was easy to make. Intel however did very little to market it. They chose to concentrate on getting the Pentium Pro customers to just upgrade to Pentium II or Xeon workstations.

Socket 8
Pins 387
Speeds 300-333
Fan? Integrated
Core P2 Deschutes

Example:
Intel Pentium II Overdrive
Intel PODP66X333 V1.0
Intel PODP66X333 V1.1




Kingston Technologies Upgrade Processors Kingston Technologies

Kingston is most known for its memory products but they also made many CPU Upgrade kits. They made kits for the 286 and up, but I will only detail kits for the 486 and up.

486 TurboChip TC486/75 486TC/100

This is a lesser known Kingston made upgrade chip. It is based upon a AMD DX4 CPU in a QFPP package.


486 TC5x86/133

One of the better known upgrade CPU's. It is based on the AMD DX5-133. Basically just a high speed 486 with extra cache. It is a capable performer and happens to be rather overclockable (160MHz is usually attainable)

 

Turbochip TCMMX/200

The TurboChip 200 continues with Kingstons tradition of using AMD CPUs. In this case a standard AMD K6 running at 200MHz.

Turbochip TCMMX/233i

The MMX233i is one of the more unusual upgrade chips. It uses an honest to goodness Intel CPU. Its performance and market are the same as the TCMMX200

TurboChip TC366-400

The TC366 and TC400 are AMD K6-2 based upgrades. They provide the greatest speed available for old Socket 5 systems at a relatively low cost. With these CPU's the biggest slow down in the system is the RAM, which is still old and slow.

Sockets 486 - 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 168
Speeds 75-100
Fan? Integrated
Core AMD DX4

Example:
Kingston Turbochip 100


Sockets 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 169
Speed 133
Fan? Integrated
Core AMD DX5
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speed 200
Fan Integrated
Core AMD K6
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speed 233
Fan Integrated
Core P55C
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speeds 366-400
Fan Integrated
Core AMD K6-2

Example
Kingston TC400


Evergreen Technologies Upgrade Processors Evergreen Technologies

Evergreen has been in the CPU Upgrade business since 1989 in Corvallis Oregon. One of their selling points has been in offering BIOS upgrades with their CPU's to ensure compatibility.

586

One of the better known upgrade CPU's. It is based on the AMD DX5-133. Basically just a high speed 486 with extra cache. It is a capable performer and happens to be rather overclockable (160MHz is usually attainable)

MXPro

The MXPro is a series of Upgrade chips made by Evergreen. They use either a Winchip or a Winchip2 as their base processor (allowing for 3D Now in the Winchip2) Their performance is good for office apps, but horrid for anything else.

 

Spectra

The first Spectra was based on a Winchip2 233. All future Spectras have been based on AMD CPU's. Performance is pretty good for a socket 7.

Performa

The Original Performa Upgrades a System using a Celeron 400-500 in a Slocket. The New Performa III uses a Tualitin Pentium III.

AcceleraPCI

The AcceleraPCI is really a Single Board Computer that goes into the PCI slot and takes over from your old CPU. It comes with RAM and a chipset.

Sockets 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 168
Speeds 133
Fan? Integrated
Core AMD DX5

Example:
Evergreen 586


Sockets 5-7
Pins 320
Speed 180-233
Fan? Integrated
Core Winchip C6

Example
Evergreen MXPro
Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speed 233-400
Fan Integrated
Core AMD K6-2

Example

Slot 1
Pins NA
Speed 400-1400
Fan Integrated
Core Pentium III

Example
Evergreen Performa
Sockets PCI
Pins NA
Speeds 333-466
Fan Integrated
Core Celeron

Example
Evergreen AcceleraPCI

 



PNY Technologies Upgrade Processors PNY Technologies

PNY has made products that are very similar to those made by Evergreen.

Quickchip 133

One of the better known upgrade CPU's. It is based on the AMD DX5-133. Basically just a high speed 486 with extra cache. It is a capable performer and happens to be rather overclockable (160MHz is usually attainable)

QuickChip 3D

the Quickchip 3D is based on the IDT Winchip2. It has full MMX and 3DNow! support. Its graphics erformance and FPU is lacking, but is good for office applications.

 

Sockets 1 - 2 - 3
Pins 168
Speeds 133
Fan? Integrated
Core AMD DX5

Example:
PNY Quickchip 133
Sockets 5-7
Pins 320
Speed 180-266
Fan? Integrated
Core Winchip C6

Example
PNY Quickchip 233

 


PowerLeap Products Upgrade Processors

PowerLeap Products may be the king of upgrades. They have upgrades for the 8086 all the way up to the Pentium 4. While some of their 'upgrades' fall more into the SBC (Single Board Computer) category they are still of interest

RENAISSANCE CPU Upgrades

PowerLeaps Renaissance upgrades are really independant SBC's that happen to fit in an ISA slot, however, we will still discuss them because having an old IBM XT case and original motherboard, running Windows XP is just too neat to pass up. Being as the ISA slot in these is purely for mechanicle support, you could mount these ANYWHERE, which opens the door to some neat small profile applications, like perhaps a car.

PL-RENAISSANCE/AT

This adapter sits in an ISA slot and can run off of most any XT or better power supply. It contains a Super Socket 7 and 168pin DIMM slots running the VIA MVP4 chipset. Sound, graphics, and USB are built in.

PL-RENAISSANCE/370S

This adapter is along the same lines as the R/AT, just with even more poer. It uses a Socket370, giving you the ability to upgrade even your IBM XT to Pentium-III (Tualitin) 1.4GHz speeds. It uses the SiS 630E chipset which has graphics and sound onboard. It even has Ethernet.

 

Sockets ISA Slot
Pins NA
Speeds 200-550
Fan? Integrated
Core AMD K6 / K6-2 / K6-3

Sockets ISA Slot
Pins NA
Speed 800-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Pentium IIIS

Socket Based CPU Upgrades

PowerLeap made no less then 8 different Socket based CPU Upgrades.

PL/586-133

This is PowerLeaps version of the common Am5x86-P75 CPU clock quadrupled 486 with voltage regulators.

PL-54C/MMX

The PowerLeap PL-54C is the first Upgrade chip to use PL's IPS system. IPS (Independant Power Source) uses a floppy power connector to power the CPU, taking the strain off of the motherboards regulators and allowing CPU's with higher power requirements to be used in old motherboards. This is merely a socket, it will allow you to use any CPU up to 550MHz in an old system.

PL-PROMMX PLUS

This is the newest version of PowerLeap's Socket 5-7 Upgrade product. It has IPS and also supports more voltages. It also supports 75 and 83MHz bus CPU's.

PL-PRO/II

The PRO/II is a Celeron based upgrade for Pentium Pro systems. It supports PPGA Celerons up to 533MHz and FC-PGA Celerons up to 700MHz*, making this the fastest upgrade for Pentium Pro's available. It supports dual CPU's only when using PPGA celerons (Intel disabled SMP on FC-PGA Celerons)

Sockets 486
Pins 168
Speeds 120-133
Fan? Integrated
Core Am5x86-P75

Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speeds 166-450
Fan? Integrated
Core Any x86

Sockets 5 - 7
Pins 320
Speeds 166-450
Fan? Integrated
Core Any x86

Sockets 8
Pins 387
Speeds 300-700
Fan? Integrated
Core Celeron

* With a Celeron running faster than 600MHz, you must use the PL-Pro/II in
conjunction with the PowerLeap Neo S370.

PL-Neo S370

This is a cost-effective PPGA to FC-PGA CPU upgrade adapter. With the Neo S370, you can install an Intel Pentium III or Celeron "Coppermine" CPU (in the
FC-PGA package) into a Socket 370 computer designed for an earlier generation PPGA Celeron CPU.

PL-Neo/T

This is an economical upgrade solution that allows systems based on Socket 370 Intel Pentium III and Celeron FC-PGA (Coppermine) CPUs to use FCPGA2 Pentium III/Celeron (Tualatin) CPU technology. With this product, you can obtain significantly faster performance (up to 1.4GHz) from your Socket 370 systems..

PL-370SMP

This is a dual processor capable version of the Neo.

PL-P4/N

The P4/N allows users to upgrade the Socket 423 (which Intel used for only a short time) to the newer Socket 478 CPU's.

Socket 370
Pins 370
Speeds 533-1100MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Coppermine

Socket 370
Pins 370
Speeds 533-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core CuMine or Tualatin


Socket 370
Pins 370
Speeds 533-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Tualatin

Socket 423
Pins 423
Speeds 1.8-2.8GHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Northwood

 

PL-K6-III

This upgrade is designed specifically to upgrade Socket 5-7 systems to the K6-III CPU. The K6-3 is the fastest CPU available for Socket 7.

PL-AXP

The AXP allows you to use a new (Thouroughbred or Barton) cored AMD CPU in an older system, that normally would only support up to a 1400MHz thunderbird. This is the only such adapter that exists.

Socket 5-7
Pins 370
Speeds 333-600
Fan? Integrated
Core K6-3

Socket A
Pins 462
Speeds 1400-2800
Fan? Integrated
Core Tbred/Barton

PowerLeap Slot Based CPU Upgrades.

PL-PII

This is one of the first 'Slocket's with a few more options, it supports voltages from 1.8V all th way to 3.5V (more then you will ever need) and supports BSEL 66, 75, 83, 95, 100, and 133.

PL-iP3 Rev. 2

Another slocket from Powerleap, this one has voltages from 1.3V - 3.5V and is SMP compliant (the first revision wasn't) It also has an LED on it and a fan connector. One of the best Slockets around. It also has owerleap's PS (Independant Power Source)

PL-P3SMP

About the same as the iP3 but is meant for servers, it has self repairing fuses to help orotect the CPU and motherboard. It supports Cu and Tualatin CPU's

PL-P3/Xeon-s

The same as the P3SMP but designed for Slot 2 systems. It is built to higher standards then the normal Powerleap adapters.

Socket Slot 1
Pins 242
Speeds 300-533
Fan? Integrated
Core PPGA Celeron

Socket Slot 1
Pins 242
Speeds 300-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Any Socket 370

Socket Slot 1
Pins 242
Speeds 533-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Cu or Tualatin

Socket Slot 2
Pins NA
Speeds 533-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Cu or Tualatin


Upgradeware Technology

Upgradeware Technologies is a relatively new player in the upgrade business. They are a Taiwan based company that was founded in 2002.

Slot-T

SLOT-T allows the new Tualatin-core CPUs to be used on those motherboards which only support Intel Slot 1 and can be upgraded to Coppermine/Tualatin-core CPUs at speed of 533aMHz upto 1.4GHz. It supports voltages from 1.3V and up and is SMP compatible.

370GU

370GU allows the new Tualatin-core CPUs to be used on those motherboards which only support Intel FC-PGA Pentium III (500~1.1G) / Celeron (533A-1.1G) and can be upgraded to Tualatin-core CPUs at speed of 1.0GHz upto 1.4GHz.

p478

p478 allows PGA423 Pentium 4 (1.3G~2.0G) systems to take advantage of 0.18 micron Intel mPGA478 Pentium 4 processors based on Willamette and 0.13 micron Pentium 4/Celeron Northwood processors in order to reach speeds exceeding 2.8GHz.

XP-TMC

This adapter allows the use of the newer Thouroughbred, Applebred, Thorton, and Barton CPU's in older Socket A boards. It has very good multiplier control. It does not support Palominoe or Sempron CPU's

Socket Slot 1
Pins 242
Speeds 300-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Cu or Tualatin

Socket 370
Pins 370
Speeds 1000-1400MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Tualatin

Socket 423
Pins 423
Speeds 1.8-2.8GHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Northwood

Socket A
Pins 462
Speeds 1400-2800MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Athon XP/MP

 

Gainbery Computer Products Gainbery logo

Gainbery (a company that was based in Ontario, Canada) based its upgrade chips on the Cyrix 5x86 and 6x86 series of CPU's as well as Pentium based ones.Gainbery was established in 1988. Gainbery went out of business sometime after March of 1997.

MAXimizer GB586-133NB

This is a rare upgrade indeed, it was designed using a QFP Cyrix 5x86 and is specifically designed to upgrade notebooks. It is low power and only draws 1.5Amps. It has a 5V supply for the fan, but the CPU runs on 3.45V. The heatsink is standard (the one without is from a product brief)

Interesting Note: The press releases say AMD 5x86, so I am unsure what actually hit the market.

Suggested retail was: $199

Maximizer GB586-75
Maximizer GB586-120
Maximizer GB586-133

These upgrades are based on the Cyrix/IBM 5x86 chip. The 133 uses a Cyrix 5x86 in a QFP package, whereas the 120 uses a IBM 100MHz part (overclocked no less). The 5x86 is based on the 6x86 so the performance is quite good.

The 75, 100 amd 120MHz version are Cyrix, while the 133 is an AMD..

Suggested retail was: $139

Socket 486
Pins 168
Speeds 75-133
Fan? Integrated
Core 5x86
Gainbery MAXimizer 586NB
Socket 486
Pins 168
Speeds 75-133
Fan? Integrated
Core Cyrix 5x86

Maximizer GB586

Gainbery Pentium Class Upgrades

CPU MAXimizer 686i 100-166
CPU MAXimizer 686G 100-166

The CPU MAXimizer 686 upgrade series, an integrated upgrade CPU module to replace the P5-60/66 processor. Based on a Cyrix/IBM 6X86 processor, Gainbery has provided a voltage-conversion circuit, together with pin-alignment convertor, which allows P5-60/66 users to double their system power. It seems that later versions of this Upgrade used a pentium CPU. Details are sketchy as Gainbery no longer exists

Suggested retail was: $349-$899

MAXimizer P60 - P100 Booster

These upgrades used Intel CPU's to upgrade older Pentium Socket 4 and 5 systems too what Gainbery called 'Intel Overdrive' Performance.

Suggested retail was: $289-$499

MAXimizer Booster 200/180A & 200/180B

Version A is a 200MHz Pentium upgrade for Socket 5, while version B is the same for Socket 4. This would make the Booster 200 the fastest upgrade ever made for the Pentium 60/66

Suggested retail was: $1099

Socket 4
Pins 273
Speeds 100-166MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core Cyrix 6x86 or P55

MAXimizer 686i

Socket 4 & 5
Pins 273 & 296
Speeds 125-166MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core P54C
Socket 4 & 5
Pins 273 & 296
Speeds 180-200MHz
Fan? Integrated
Core P54C

MAXimizer Booster 200

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