The Celery Report: Issue #2

It appears that there are still plenty of Celery sticks that "do the dance". This week's report covers a total of 60 processors.

For the first time, I got in a batch of Retail, SL32A chips, all of the Malay flavor; total of 15. 10 of these were COMPEQ PCB week 9823 and label code 98391399. Five were Clover, three PCB week 9837, and two were 9835. All five of these were label code 98410558. All fifteen of these CPU's cranked out 450Mhz at default voltage.

Now, there are reports all over the web that the retail versions are, on balance, more overclockable then the OEM's. While this is a small group, and from earlier production, it does seem to confirm this. Since all the processors are identical in CPUID and core stepping, this begs the question: WHY?

Some speculate that Intel "Cherry-picks" the chips for packaging for retail sale. I wonder. With the millions of chips being produced, do they really have time to do this, or is it just coincidence?

The fan that comes with the retails is an interesting piece of design. At first blush, it looks rather wimpy and it spins at a paltry average of 3800 RPM. But, you know what? These Intel engineers are pretty smart cookies; the little thing is very efficient. It keeps the chips barely warm at 450Mhz!

(Please do not e-mail me and ask if you got/are getting/can have one of these chips with your combo. They are already packed for shipping so I have no way of knowing the answer to that question.)

I was also able to grab 15 more of the Clover PCB week 9839/label 08451303 that did so well in last weeks report. They did just as well this week. Thirteen of the CPU's required only default voltage to run at 450, one at 2.1v and one at 2.2v. I think, since we now have 27 chips in this sample, that it's safe to assume this is a good week. 100% of these have overclocked with 89% at 2v.

The next group were thirty of PCB week 9841, label code 08461541. Twenty of these had the normal colored PCB substrate square under the silicon, and ten had the dark one. Of the twenty normal, 90% did 450Mhz, but 2 required 2.3v to make it stable. Of the ten dark, all did 450, but one required 2.3v.

To date, I've tested 137 Celery sticks. Of those, 126 have been stable at 450Mhz or better. This is a success rate of almost 92%. A certain percentage of these required 2.3v, but for most people this would be fine, as the temperature difference is minimal.

I created a chart for those who are in search of their Celery stick at Swap Meets and storefronts where they have an opportunity to inspect the chip prior to purchase. This table includes only the last two weeks results because I wasn't tracking the information this closely until now:

NOTE: Label codes beginning with "98" are retail versions,
codes beginning with "08" are OEM versions.

One more time for clarity's sake: This information is no guarantee that the CPU you select will be overclockable even if it is one of the one listed at 100%.

Well, happy hunting!

Russ Stringham, Owner
CompuCheap