With a multiplier as high as 8.0, every front side bus jump will result in a tremendous clock speed increase. Using the ABIT BP6 (dual Celeron motherboard) we didn't have the luxury of SoftMenu III, which allows single MHz increases on the front side bus. Instead we had to move in increments of 3MHz - a 24MHz jump each time. Here are the results of the overclocking tests:

(8 * 72MHz) = 576MHz Stable
(8 * 75MHz) = 600MHz Stable
(8 * 78MHz) = 622MHz Load Win98 - intermittent errors

While it is not a great overclocking processor, the Celeron 533 still reaches 600MHz with complete stability. With a better method of active cooling this 533 should be ale to reach 622MHz with complete stability and an 81MHz front side bus may even be a possibility (8 * 81MHz = 648MHz).

As we're all now aware, the front side bus is what we see hampering the performance of the Celeron 533, which is why it is the last in a very successful family of processors. Overclocking the 300A to 450MHz brought such rave reviews because it was operating at 100MHz front side bus. While the i820 hasn't been embraced by end-users, Intel and AMD have the right idea by speeding up the front side busses on next generation chipsets.

To get maximum performance from any system, it is important to remember that when any new component is purchased, all of the other parts should be proportionally powerful. A Celeron 300A does not allow a GeForce DDR card to realize it's full potential, just as matching 32MB of RAM with a new Celeron 533MHz system will slow things down to a painful state.

It can be thought of like this: Although people enjoy powerful cars, there is a reason manufacturers won't put the engine from a massive 18-wheeler on a VW bug (other then the fact that it would look hideous). For the same reason, Ferrari doesn't make a car with a lawnmower engine as a budget model. Our point? It would be a safe bet to make sure everything in your system is of equal power before investing on a shiny new CPU or video card.