Camino delay saves BX chipset

A proven, (old) chipset has managed to live to fight another day. The Venerable 440 BX will now run up to 700MHz, according to sources close to Intel's plans. The ageing Intel 440BX chipset has earned a reprieve from the chip gulag. Chipzilla's problems in getting the replacement i820 (aka Camino) to market means that the BX is now set to be validated to support Pentium IIIs running at up to 700MHz. While this might sound like good news for users with existing motherboards, Pentium IIIs at this kind of speed will be power-hungry (even at 0.18 micron) and require a rev to the voltage regulation to meet the VRM 8.4 spec, so unless you're handy with a soldering iron, a new motherboard will be in order. It seems likely that the next speed bump for the PIII, the 550MHz variant due out next month, will need beefier VRMs too. Who ever said upgrading was supposed to be easy? ®