Intel Pentium III 800 socket: Socket 370

What the Pentium III 800 is

The Intel Pentium III 800 is an 800 MHz single-core desktop processor from June 2001. It runs one P6 Coppermine T core at 800 MHz with no turbo, so 1 core gives 1 thread. Cache is 256 KB of full-speed Advanced Transfer Cache with 32 KB of L1 on a 180 nm process with 44 million transistors. Power is rated at 38 W in a Socket 370 FC-PGA2 package with part number SL5QD on a 133 MHz front side bus with a 6x multiplier at 1.75 V.

Coppermine T adds a Tualatin-compatible FC-PGA2 package and dual-processor capability on Tualatin boards, which is why the 800 at 800 MHz suits late Socket 370 boards that older Coppermine FC-PGA parts cannot use for SMP. Intel placed the Coppermine T 800 in June 2001 with the 866, 933, 1000 and 1133 parts. The chip supports MMX and SSE.

Modest clocks with a full 256 KB cache and a 38 W envelope suit late Socket 370 office towers with SDRAM and AGP graphics. The FC-PGA2 heat spreader eases cooler mounting over bare-die Coppermine parts. That is why the 800 shipped in value business desktops with integrated video.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The 800 fits Socket 370 late desktops with Coppermine T support. It needs a 370-pin FC-PGA2 board with a 133 MHz bus and a BIOS that lists Coppermine T parts. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Late SDRAM towers with Tualatin-ready 815E paths are the natural match. Boards listing Pentium III 800 Coppermine T accept the chip with a 38 W cooler. Older non-Tualatin boards may still run it in single-processor mode, but SMP needs a Tualatin board.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is PC100 and PC133 SDRAM through the board chipset, matched to the board DIMM sockets. The CPU has no memory controller, so the chipset sets the type and speed. Late 815E boards commonly run PC133 pairs for 133 MHz Coppermine T parts.

A 133 MHz front side bus ties the CPU to the chipset, while AGP and PCI hang off the chipset. No PCIe lanes originate on the die. Cooling uses the Socket 370 lug clip on the FC-PGA2 spreader with a cooler rated for 38 W. Even clip pressure keeps the spreader in full contact.

Upgrade paths

On the same socket, a move to a Pentium III 866 such as Intel Pentium III 866 keeps the board and memory when the support list names it. The 866 adds 66 MHz at the same 38 W, so the cooler carries over. A Celeron 1000A such as Intel Celeron 1000A moves to Tualatin cores with lower voltage needs.

A move to Tualatin Pentium III needs a Tualatin-compatible board revision with a BIOS update. The Socket 370 page lists the Coppermine T to Tualatin range for planning.