MOST Pentium-era CPUs used a "Socket 7" mounting to the motherboard and a
66 MHz "clock signal", and if your machine fits that profile then it's quite
possible that it can work with a faster CPU than what you currently have.
But there was also a change from 5v to 3v and less, so the oldest Pentium
system boards might not work with some of the later processor chips.
  The tricky part is going to be *finding* such a CPU.  There was a time
when upgrade options like this were popular, but that was pretty much over
by about 1998.  Your best bet might be to check out local surplus stores,
garage sales, and want ads, although any faster processors you find there
will probably already be installed in a machine (which may even be better
than what you've got),

  There were two popular non-Intel alternatives in that era to be aware of.
AMD's "K6-2" was a popular upgrade, compatible with most (I believe) Socket
7 systems.  The Cyrix/IBM "6x86" was similar, but tended to require changing
a jumper or two for full support -- your board might or might not have that.

  Different Pavilion models were made at different times, and will vary in
the range of alternate CPUs they can take.  If you can provide more specific
information about the model of your machine, folks here may be able to
provide more specific advice about what will and won't work.

David Gillett


On 1 Dec 2003 at 22:03, Casey deeds wrote:

> I have an old hp pavilon and it is really slow. it has windows 95 on it and i want to get a faster processor and possibly a better (newer) OS. i dont really want to spent a lot of money on a new comp. is it possible to switch processors?

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