Screams the headline. The very next day we see;

Or:

And then:

The speed at which the web transmits information is both a boon and a bane. We know in an instant when important news is breaking, but the natural tendency for inaccuracy, when this information travels thru several sources, is magnified by the lightening speed of electronic transmission.

We find information posted at one web site from a "reliable" source, then surf to the next site and find diametrically opposing news, also from a "reliable" source. We read with interest e-mail from an alleged Intel employee only to return the next day and find that the mail has been pulled because this "source" fears retribution.

For those of us who love the challenge of taking the system to the brink, of squeezing out that last micron of performance, the 300A is, or was, the most exciting accident ever to happen to Geekdom. It is frustrating, and more than a little maddening, to not know what is going on.

Well, after a little research, a little logical deduction and, well, just plain guessing, I've come to two conclusions: The Slot One 300A is out of production, and the new Celerons are not bus-locked. These are my opinions, and I hope I'm right on the second point, and would dearly love to be wrong on the first.

Before we move on, I'll tell you that I did grab a 400A this week and had a chance to put it on the bench and give it a workout. More on that later, right now...

There are two things that tell me that it is. The first is supply, or actually lack of it. The CPU, at least in the retail flavor, has become damned hard to find. What were once 100 chip orders at one price have quickly become 50 chip orders at a higher price. I was still able to find processors this week, but they're commanding a hefty premium. Also, before it was a simple matter of telling my supplier, "Get me a hundred chips", and after a quick phone call, the order was on it's way.

That has become a dozen phone calls to scrape up 50 chips from multiple sources. Even the giant distributors such as Ingram Micro and Tech Data can no longer get inventory. But, since these guys buy in the thousands and tens of thousands, they are first to run dry. The smaller suppliers and retailers still have a few because they're not demanding such large purchases. So supply is definitely drying up.

Part two of the equation comes directly from Intel itself. While others are speculating and gobbling up reports from second and third hand sources, I headed over to the main source. I clipped this directly from Intels developer web site:

Product Change Notification

Nov 30, 1998:

The transition is scheduled to be completed in early Q2. All SKUs of boxed Celeron processors are planned to be 100% transitioned to the PPGA form factor.

This tells me that, at the very least, the boxed version is no longer being produced. After all, if they have clearly stated as early as November of last year, that the majority of Retail Celerons shipped in Q1, '99 would be the socket version, and that the Slot version would be completely phased out by Q2, why would they continue to manufacture it? The answer is, they wouldn't.

It is, however, possible that the OEM version of the slot 300A is still being made. I would assume that Intel would wish to aid the others in the Big Boys Fraternity to unload their existing inventory of Slot Celery motherboards. But, I've got a hunch that there is enough of this version in existing inventory to satisfy the need.

So, I have concluded that, sadly, the joy ride will soon be over.

We all know that Intel has been "Clock-locking" these CPUs for a while now. For the un-initiated, clock-locking sets the multiplier at a specific level which can not be altered. In the case of the 300A, this is 4.5 because the chip is supposed to run on a 66Mhz bus (4.5x66=300).

This limited our tweaking to changing the FSB, or Front Side Bus speed of the motherboard where our chip was planted. In the case of the Celery 300, this meant 100Mhz and, presto (in most cases) we suddenly had a 450Mhz CPU for the price of a few large pizzas!

A few weeks ago rumors began circulating that processors after a certain week, usually about 47 or 48, were also bus-locked. This would mean, if it were true, that we wouldn't be able to change anything and that overclocking would be effectively dead.

I've tested processors now thru week 51 and have seen no evidence of this at all. In point of fact, the 400A I tested this week was listed at another site as one that was definitely bus-locked and yet it was not.

I believe that, so far at least, what has happened is that garden-variety overclock failures are being reported as bus-locking. With the stiff competition to be first with "breaking news" among web sites, these reports are being instantly published without verification.

Until I get one on the bench that is bus-locked, I'm assuming that this rumor is just that; a rumor, and nothing more.

Now, a little about the Celery cooking process. Those of you have read previous Celery reports can feel free to skip this section, but I include it for complete and utter disclosure's sake.;-)

I test each CPU under initial identical conditions prior to "burning in" my combos. I do an initial test run using the same Abit BH6, same RAM (single stick 64MB Micron, CAS3) and the same video card, a Trident 975, 4MB AGP. For those who are interested, this is a very fast 2D card that consistently scores better than 5 in Final Reality. Not very good in 3D, but for a business system, it’s a screaming bargain. I use an old 270MB Quantum hard drive (actually have 3 set up identically, so I can burn multiple combos at once). I use an old hard drive because I assume that these setups will be going in to a variety of situations with a variety of drives and that if it’ll work with this clunker, it’ll probably work anywhere.

I run a quick test at 450 using Business Winstone 97. Why such an old version, you might ask? Because I’m not testing for performance, only stability. This works perfectly for that purpose. If it fails, I bump the core voltage up a notch until it passes. If the CPU won’t do 450 or requires more than 2.2v core, I set it aside for later evaluation. After passing the first test on my evaluation board, I move the chip to the motherboard with which it will be mated.

I put each one through 6 full rounds of Winstone and 2 hours of Final Reality. By using these two tests, I’m covering both the 2D business users and the 3D gamers. As an aside, for those who haven’t used it, Final Reality is not only a great test, it is visually stunning. One glitch at current voltage, and it’s bumped up a notch, until it’s completely stable. Because I believe that stability means having a little breathing room, I don’t sell a chip at 450 if it requires more than 2.2v core to stabilize.