[TECnewhw] P3 CPU upgrade

[Trevor Cordes]

This notice is for those who purchased an Intel 815E-based motherboard
from me between September 2001 and Summer 2002.  Most likely it would be
invoiced as "MSI-6337".  You would have bought it with either an Intel
Celeron CPU (most likely) or a Intel P3 CPU.  If this sounds like you,
please read on!

This notice only applies if you have a "Tualatin" board.  Your MSI
motherboard box will have a sticker saying "Tualatin" or there may be a
sticker directly on your motherboard.  If you bought the board during
the afforementioned dates then most likely your board is Tualatin.  If
your board is NOT Tualatin capable then please see the note at the very
bottom of this email.

It is near the end of the line for P3-style CPU's.  There are a few left
and they are going fast.  What this means is that if you ever want to
upgrade your system to its maximum potential and put off a major system
upgrade (ie: P4) or whole new computer, then you should think about
doing it soon.

Many systems were sold with the slower, less expensive Celeron CPU. 
This was great 1 or 2 years ago, but might be seeming a little slow
right now. If you have a Tualatin capable board (see above), then you
can upgrade to a 1.2GHz P3 CPU which runs approximately as fast as a
1.8GHz P4-based Celeron.  The 1.2GHz is also around 50% faster than a
900MHz Celeron, because the P3 has more cache and a faster bus.

There are also special P3's that have 512K cache instead of 256K, giving
an even greater speed boost, but at a substantially higher price.

CPU upgrades are the quickest and easiest thing to do and require no
changes to your Windows or other software.  Everything just works
faster!

Here are the prices as of today:

$199 P3 1.20GHz 256K retail box
$332 P3 1.26GHz 512K retail box
$384 P3 1.40GHz 512K retail box

If you trade in your old CPU, you can save $30-$100 depending on what
CPU you currently have.  Email me for details.

For a limited time, installation of the above is only $10 if you bring
the computer case here, or $30 on-site.


The other alternative if you're looking for more computer speed is to
upgrade your system to a P4.  There's some great price drops about to
happen on P4 parts, so watch for another email soon with details or
send me an email for details.


Remember!  Act soon as these could disappear at any moment and they will
be gone forever!  If that happens, your only choice for a faster computer
will be a more complicated P4 upgrade or a new computer.


As usual, email is the best way to contact me: trevor@tecnopolis.ca

Thanks for your continued support!


PS: If your motherboard is NOT Tualatin capable (pre-Sep 2001), then
unfortunately it is impossible to buy new CPU's that work in your board.
However, I do get used trade-ins from time to time that may work in your
system.  Email me for details.