Performa 500 Review
Installation of the Performa 500 is just like any other
processor swap. Remove the old CPU, plug in the Performa 500. Done. The Performa
500 comes with very complete installation instructions, complete with step by
step photos. The instructions are really well done and I believe a person with
minimum computer knowledge can do the CPU swap following the Performa 500
manual.
To test the Performa 500, I installed the unit into one of the
LAN party boxes. Ideally, the Performa 500 is meant to be installed into an
older Pentium II or slot 1 Celeron. In real life, it will work as long as you
have a Slot 1 motherboard. Well, you don't even need that either. If you have a
Socket 370 motherboard, just remove the Slot Kit and you can install it too.
The Slot Kit is a very high quality unit. It offer bus speed and
voltage adjustment for overclocking. This is a very interesting feature to add
since most people who would buy the Performa 500 likely doesn't know much about
computers. If they don't know comps too well, I doubt they know much about
overclocking.
Performance is the same as any other Celeron 500 system. I did
tried to overclock the Performa 500 to 620Mhz but the only thing I got was the
blue screen of death. The stock heatsink that comes with the Performa 500 is not
up to the task of cooling the CPU down when overclocked that high. However, it
ran rock stable at 560Mhz. I did have to bump voltage up to 2.2V to stabilize
it. I didn't like the thought of running at 2.2V with the stock heatsink
however.
Overall, I don't think any Tech Zone readers would really buy
the Performa 500 considering the price they want for it. I would be doing a
disservice to you by saying you should get it. The extra money you have to pay
for a Performa 500 over a normal Celeron 500 and Slot Kit is not worth the price
of that big fancy box and photo instructions.
Like I said before, the Performa 500 is nothing more than a
Celeron 500 on a Slot Kit. You can pick up a Celeron 500 for as low as $130. Add
$10 for a Slot Kit and you just got yourself a Performa 500 for $140. For
Evergreen to be able to charge $229 for the Performa 500 and then make the
customer go to the trouble of doing a mail in rebate just to get $30 back shows
that marketing can sell anything.
The Goods
The Bads
Rating: 6/10
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