P5A-B RAM Upgrading

[nikehair]

I've got a K6-2 400 CPU in there and I'm running Windows XP. I run several apps at once and was wondering if it was worth it to upgrade to 768 megs of ram since I found a good deal on some.

Thanks...

I know that the cache is low, but with win xp would it be beneficial to have more? Thanks.

[carlcoconut]

Better upgrade your CPU with a K6-III,K6-2+ or a K6-III+. They all have L2 cache build in and are able to cache all your RAM. With your K6-2 the onboard cache is used and it might be that only 256MB or 512MB are cached and it may even slow your system down when you use more RAM.

[nikehair]

What would be a reasonable price for a K6-3 CPU?

[carlcoconut]

You can get an idea on this website, but the prices are a bit too high:
http://www.upgradeability.com/K6plus/index.htm

You can find them cheaper at ebay.

You have to be careful with your P5A-B revision when you want to use a K6-2+ or K6-III+.
If it is Rev. 1.04 or 1.05 it isn't compatible.

[nikehair]

I am considering buying the chip now, but I see ATZ, ACZ, etc. How can I tell which chip is the best?

[Jim]

K, 1 thing at a time here. First a P5A-B Rev 104 will work just fine with a K6-2+ or K6-3+ processor. That is what I had in SuperPuppy 3 before I switched it to a DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2. Second SuperPuppy 3 has always had 768 Meg of ram. It works fairly well but I think it is more than the optimum amount. XP can use as much as you throw at it, but it is my experience that having 30 internet windows open silmultaneously will cause the machine to all but grind to a halt, while only using 491 Meg of ram. Recommend 512 Meg for best results with XP, in terms of speed; and power.