Motherboard, Pros and Cons

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
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theEMP
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Motherboard, Pros and Cons

Post by theEMP »

How about some quick reviews and pros and cons of some of the socket 7 boards roaming these parts? Or if a thread here already exists, please delete this one and PM me a link (I looked around but didn't find one).

From what I've seen the Ali 5 and 7, SiS 530, and VIA MVP3 chipsets look like the are the premo ones to get. Would that be a correct assumption?

Do any of these boards have bus or divider locks?

Which boards allow for use of the best variety of processors? The cyrix processor from the beater bench had a pretty good showing.
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RE: Motherboard, Pros and Cons

Post by Jim »

As far as I know they will all support the same range of processors. As for the Cyrix, it has a unified 64K L1 cache, as opposed to the two 32K Li caches found on K6 types. (One for the instruction set, and one for data). That is the reason the Cyrix gives such pretty Everest numbers; but it is severely limited in how fast you can clock it. Kakabok said that his was unstable @ 266 Mhz. Re bus and divider locks, you are getting over my head. Ask KachiWachi.
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

well just looking for some quick board reviews to be honest.... A pros and cons list for them, or things to be aware of or look-out for.

Here is a good example of what I'm getting at (these are all Nforce2 but you get the idea)

http://www.socketaplus.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=797
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

Really excellent thread dug out of the forums, with regards to motherboards:

http://k6plus.com/index.php?name=PNphpB ... 2edb17047a
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

My Cyrix was 100% stable at 266 MHz.
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

How's about a review of your DFI then? :D
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

Click the link in my sig. :wink:
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

KachiWachi wrote:Click the link in my sig. :wink:
yeah it's a 4 page thread on a bios forum about testing a modded bios... how's clickin the link to socketaplus a coupla posts up and takin a peek at what I'm getting at.

:roll:
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

There is some testing in there.

Most of it was posted at the PCChips Lottery...which is unfortunately no longer available. :(
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

yes it was a sad day when Milt's forums disappeared...

I'm just trying to build *this* into a super seven board resource. Some short and simple reviews could really help folks that might want to try their hand at some older tech, make ebay shopping easier and what not.

The overclocking database provides some insight, but only a limited peek. The compatability charts provide limited insight too....hence the reason behind this thread.
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

Milt?

My DFI isn't even a Super Seven...since the i430VX is only "officially" rated to 66 MHz FSB.
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

Milt was the admin of PCchips lottery....
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

Uh...No.

That would be Thomas (th).

Milt certainly posted there a lot. He might have been a Moderator...idk.
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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theEMP
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Post by theEMP »

I stand corrected.

well hopefully if I can land a K6 board before too long I can spin this thread in the direction I intended it to go.
Jim
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Post by Jim »

If you meant my DFI, It is a Super7; but not an easy one to work with. Performance is good, (better than most), for an MVP3; but top quality RAM is required for stability. You would also have problems getting the board to pickup some video cards, - and shutdown problems w/ some ATI drivers. The board has no settings whatsoever for FSB overclocks either by way of jumpers, or bios. You have to use software like CPUCool to overclock the FSB. On the positive side it is one of the very few AT boards that have 4 PCI slots, and it additionally has support for ATA/66. All in all not an easy board to get working the way you want it to; but once done it works extremely well.

Re the thread that you dug out, "3 way shootout", I believe it is mistaken in its conclusion. I have always found ALi chipset boards will blow the doors off VIA chipset boards, (at least in terms of Everest results); and in the case of the ASUS P5A-B, are a lot easier to work with. I think Tony Stedman will confirm that if you ask him. The downside to the P5A-B is only 3 PCI slots; and also only ATA/33.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
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