I used this chip to upgrade my AthlonXP 1700. The performance numbers would suggest a simple 40% speed increase, but for some applications, such as loading windows, my system obviously suffered from other bottlenecks.
As for games, Knights of the Old Republic enjoyed a marked increase in frame rates, which is always nice.
With some decent borrowed ram, I've managed to run this with a FSB of 190 mhz, which brings the performance up to roughly AthlonXP 2800 levels. I wouldn't want to try this without PC2700 or better memory though. Bear in mind I have a fairly chunky heatsink attached. At normal speeds, the bios reports the CPU to run at around 38C after some intensive use.
So far I've had no stability problems, though in my experience it tends to come from the Ram anyway.
The processor has a thermal output of around 68 watts, so make sure you have adequate cooling. I recommend a cheapass 80mm case fan to draw out a little more heat. They're what, £1?
This was the fastest processor AMD released with a 266mhz bus. If you have an old PC lying around which could benefit from this, it's probably better sooner rather than later, as the price has pretty much bottomed out, and the processor is now low end, and some companies may stop stocking it.
Make sure you get the OEM version, as it's a damn sight cheaper. It's not like you'll need support for it.
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Stability
Very stable
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