Just a clarifying point:

At the most basic level, the January 2003 (FW800) MDD Board/ROM/Firmware is what is incompatible with 9. If you are actually looking to overcome these, A. Good for You! and B. Due to the similarities with the previous model, I'm guessing it is well within the realm of possible.

If you merely want Jan '03 MDD speed in an already compatible '02 MDD or June '03 MDD then just get get one of the Dual 1.42GHz CPUs used in the Jan '03 and pop it in. You'd have the best of both worlds.

As far as I know, the CPUs are compatible across the entire MDD line.

In regards to the original '02 MDD that shipped with an 867 G4 and 133 Bus. If you put a faster CPU in it, will it automatically jump to the 167 bus, or is that an exclusive feature of the '02 MDD boards that shipped with a 1GHz or better? (AKA, is there any REAL difference between the slower models that run at 867/133 and the faster ones that run at 1GHz/167 other than the different CPU card?)(AKA, if you take a June '03 MDD that shipped with a 1.25/167 and pop an 867 in it, will it step down to 133?)

Edit - Relevant: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=17867