I just popped this Intel Overdirve dx4\100 into my socket3. My computer is a H.P. Vectra VL2 4/50. On startup, it runs the system diagnostic test and says that its a dx4 running at 75mhz. My question, is it just saying the max that it can show or is it running at the full speed or at 75mhz? If it cant run at full speed, is it just a function of the motherboard or what? Anyway, I about have this "relic" maxed now. Chip, Memory next(woo-hoo 64megs!) and then drive(yeah buddy, a 2 gigger), at least for my tastes. Not to shabby super basic for 50 bucks. Dont laugh, Ive seen folks pay almost $300 for a pentium 133 with 24 megs around these parts. Ill bet I could sell this whole thing for $175...Anyhoo, its fun and Ive learned alot about basic computer functions. Okay Im done, any help is apreciated.

... and your Win31 question is.. what? The CPU's actual speed is a product of the chip's base frequency and a multiplier, often controlled by jumper settings or dip switches on the motherboard. I believe for that chip, the base frequency would be 25MHz, requiring a multiplier of 4x to achieve the 100MHz rating. Not all 486 boards could fully support a DX4 at its maximum speed. Not so sure about your pricing - even here in Canada, with our devalued dollar, PII machines are going for around $200 or so. The main thing is that you gained some good hardware experience. If you're into benchmarking or system analysis, Syschk for DOS and SiSoft Sandra for Win9x are useful items.

jboy is right, they made 486 motherboards for a long time, the dx multipliers came out tpwards the end of the reign of the 486, it isn't like the pentium, where every few months a newer one came out, they were using 486's for like 4 years until a newer chip came out

Actually, I was thinking about this, and recalled that DX4 chips were actually 'clock-tripled' - in spite of having the misleading 4 suffix. So, that would mean a base frequency of 33MHz and a multiplier of 3x. Some reading here.

The reason I post here is because my "old" os was wfw3.1. Also I had good luck with off topic questions as they had to do with the fact that I own an old 486 and Ive found that 3.1 kinda(I know its not always the case)lends itself to older computers. Anyways, I cracked my case back open and found my clock jumper(25\33) jumped it 33 and got my 100(99). Cpu did run pretty hot at first but I didnt have a fan on it. It seems okay with the fan on it though. So anyway, I hope its solved. The only question I have now is write back/write through jumper. Thanks-

Well, glad it's working. Sure 486 chips get pretty hot! A fan is a good idea on yours. I would argue that it's DOS, not Win3xx, that lends itself to older machines. Not sure about your jumper question - lots of stuff on Google though, check it out ;)

Hello Patrick, Jboy and Don are generally right. However there is an AMD processor, the Am5×86(TM)-P75, which is a 133MHz, DX4 and actually does run at 4× the 33MHz base speed. It's performance is said to equate to a Pentium 75. Mine seems to anyway. Unfortunately, not all boards will support this. You need a board with a No.3 socket and a jumper to reset the processor voltage to 3.3 volts. See Scott Mueller's upgrading and Repairing PCs' Regards, J.G.