What is the Spectra 333? Will the Spectra work on my system? Evergreen performance test Wintune 98 tests Conclusions

The Spectra 333 is an overdrive processor which will allow your system to take advantage of the latest technology from AMD.  A genuine AMD K6-2 333 MHz processor is inside this product with 64K L1 cache and is compatible with 3DNow! and MMX.

The Spectra is needed for any motherboard that does not support the voltages necessary to run the AMD K6-2.  The included BIOS is a plus to this product since Evergreen's competitors do not provide a BIOS.

The Spectra includes a fan and heat sink, CPU and a compatibility adapter (under the processor).   The compatibility adapter and CPU are one piece; the fan, retaining clip and heat sink are a separate section.  Power to the unit is supplied via a cable from the power supply; this cable is split on both ends.  The fan and compatibility adapter are attached at one end.  The other end attaches to the power supply with a pass through in case you need to attach a CD ROM or floppy drive to the power.  Check out my photo of the Spectra unit that I tested.

The photo may make the unit appear confusing, but it went together simply.  The heat sink sits right on top of the processor and the retaining clip holds it all together.

Some other important items in the box were the technical manual and installation guide.  I found them to be simple and straightforward.  They also included a stamped envelope to put the registration disk in to mail to them.  The registration also said that I would be entered into a contest if I returned the registration form.

If your system is a Socket 5, Socket 7, or Super 7 pentium based system, chances are good that this upgrade will work.  To help ensure compatibility, Evergreen Technologies has created a great little program that will test your system to see if it is compatible with the Spectra 333.  I have found three messages that this utility can give you.

1. This system is compatible - If you get this message you have it made; simply install the Spectra 333 and away you go.
2. Evergreen has a BIOS upgrade for this system - With this option you will be able to install a BIOS upgrade from the CD ROM supplied with the Evergreen Spectra.
3. Evergreen does not have a BIOS upgrade for this system - Don't worry if you get this message, because you can still buy a third party BIOS for your system and run the Evergreen Spectra.  I have had many emails from people buying Mr. BIOS upgrades and running the Evergreen Spectra.

If you would like to test the compatibility of your system, Evergreen has posted this utility on line at the bottom of the Evergreen Troubleshooting Documents in the section titled Install Software.

By knowing these results you can be assured before you buy that this upgrade will work on your system.  Additionally, this utility will test the performance of your system both before and after your upgrade.

I used the Evergreen performance test on my system and here are the results.
 

	Before Upgrade	After Upgrade
Processor	Intel	Spectra
MHz	200	333
MMX	No	Yes
3dNow!	No	Yes
Integer	140,000	271,317
Multimedia	153,846	731,707

The "Mediastones measurement is a performance and diagnostic tool created by Evergreen software."  This measurement tool is specifically designed to test out the optimum performance of the CPU MMX instructions.  Complete details of how this test is performed can be found in the Evergreen Spectra FAQ.
 

Evergreen Performance Test

I have to say the results look great using this test.  The multimedia test is particularly impressive.  But why depend on a test provided by the manufacturer of the product?  In the next section I test out the Evergreen Spectra using Wintune 98 (a diagnostic tool created by Windows Magazine).  Wintune is the standard I use to test all my upgrades.

Click here to read my Wintune Results comparing my upgrade from a Pentium 166 with the Evergreen Spectra.