Intel Pentium III Xeon 500 socket: Slot 2

What the Pentium III Xeon 500 is

The Intel Pentium III Xeon 500 is a 500 MHz single-core server processor from March 1999. It runs one P6 Tanner core at 500 MHz with no Hyper-Threading, so 1 core gives 1 thread. Cache is 512 KB of L2 at full CPU speed with 32 KB of L1 on a 250 nm process. Power is rated at 36 W in a Slot 2 SECC cartridge on a 100 MT/s front side bus with a 5x multiplier at 2.0 V.

The base 512 KB cache with SSE paths opens the Tanner line at the lowest price, which is why the plain 500 suited entry quad servers. Intel launched the Xeon 500 on March 17, 1999 at $931. The chip supports MMX, SSE and four-way SMP.

Entry server clocks with quad paths suit Slot 2 starter racks with registered memory. The 5x integer ratio is clean for 100 MT/s boards. That is why the plain 500 shipped in entry quad boxes.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The 500 fits Slot 2 entry servers with Tanner support. It needs a 330-lead SC330 board with a 100 MT/s bus and a BIOS that lists the Xeon 500. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Entry quad servers are the natural match. Boards listing the plain 500 accept up to four cartridges with 36 W heatsinks each.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is registered SDRAM through the server chipset, matched to the board sockets. The cartridge has no memory controller. Entry boards commonly run ECC pairs.

A 100 MT/s front side bus ties each cartridge to the chipset, while PCI hangs off the chipset. No PCIe lanes originate on the cartridge. Cooling uses SECC heatsinks on the retention cage.

Upgrade paths

On the same slot, a move to a Pentium III Xeon 500 1MB such as Intel Pentium III Xeon 500 1MB doubles cache to 1 MB at 44 W when databases grow. A 500 2MB such as Intel Pentium III Xeon 500 2MB quadruples cache at 36.2 W.

A move to Cascades Xeon adds 133 MT/s paths. The Slot 2 page lists the range for planning.