Subject: Re: slow 21164 Alphas (Re: Raptor 3 rendering service)
From: [email-masked] (John Crookshank)
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 13:30:19 -0500

On 24-Jan-96 00:46:56, Mark Thompson ([email-masked]) Emailed: 

> What I would really like to know is how the 266 MHz systems perform
> when you clock boost them to 300, and if they run reliably at that
> speed. My 275 MHz 21064a has been running rock solid at 300 for nearly
> a year now.

If all you do is change the clock speed, and make no other architectural
changes in the rest of the design, it's simple math. Boosting a 275 to 300
will yield a 9% speed increase. (25/275). Pushing a 266 to 300 will yield a
12.7% speed increase. The real advantage of newer designs is in improved
architecture, not necessarily the clock speed.

Generally, the marginal speed increase received from overclocking is not
worth the risk involved in stability and chip life expectancy. It often
works well, and often does not. Since they actually manufacture a 300 Mhz
21164 chip, overclocking a 266 to 300 is not necessary.

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