|
|
The Pentium III Katmai represents an evolutionary step for the Pentium II design. The design includes the SSE multimedia instruction set, which differentiates Katmai from its earlier cousins. Increased efficiency in Intel's design allowed the Katmai to scale up to 600 MHz; thus the demand for these chips was quite high during the early stages of Intel's P3 marketing initiative.
The most promising Katmai overclock lies in the Pentium III 450-MHz processor. A 100-MHz front-side bus chip with a 4.5× multiplier, this processor was well suited to the 133+-MHz front-side bus capabilities of many popular motherboards. Overclocks to 600 MHz are usually stable with only a slight increase in the core voltage and the use of a quality cooling solution.
Early overclocking returns were so positive that Intel quickly introduced a Pentium III 600b MHz Katmai. The b identifier signifies 133-MHz front-side bus support. Even so, do not expect much overclocking potential beyond 600 MHz with the Katmai cooled by traditional forced-air techniques. The Katmai was Intel's last processor to be built atop the .25-micron fabrication process, which limits MHz scalability.
|
|